Wind Cave bison herd

The Wind Cave bison herd is a herd of 250–400 American bison in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, USA. It is believed to be one of only four free roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America. The other three herds are the Yellowstone Park bison herd, the Henry Mountains bison herd in Central Utah, and at Elk Island National Park in Alberta, Canada. The Wind Cave herd are of the Plains bison subspecies (Bison bison bison).

The American bison (Bison bison) once numbered in the millions, perhaps between 25 million and 60 million by some estimates, and they were possibly the most numerous large land animal on earth. However, they were hunted to near extinction throughout North America by the late 1880s. The Wind Cave bison herd was started with 14 bison from the New York Zoological Society and with six animals transplanted from the Yellowstone Park bison herd. In addition, in the 1960s, one single bull bison was received from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd was the last free-ranging bison herd in the United States and the only place where they did not go locally extinct, so they have become at least part of the foundation stock for many other herds, including the Wind Cave bison herd. The Wind Cave population has, in turn, served as the foundation stock for the Tallgrass Prairie bison herd in Kansas.

Wind Cave National Park has large areas of grassland prairie and this provides a nearly optimum environment for American bison.

Bison are large herd animals that defend their young vigorously. American bison can run up to 35 miles (56 km) per hour and are surprisingly agile, in addition to their notable strength and irritable temperament. However, there are limited numbers of potential apex predators of these bison. Significant apex predators that could help control the bison population would include brown bear, grizzly bear, and wolves, and these are currently absent from the area. Wind Cave National Park by itself, at 28,000 acres (11,000 ha), might not be large enough for a viable population of predators; however it is part of a much larger area of extended grassland prairie. Other large mammals found in the area include elk, coyotes, bobcats, deer, and pronghorn. Competitive pressure from the other large grazing mammals in Wind Cave National Park might also help limit the number of bison in the herd, but this is not considered to have a significant effect on bison numbers.

...
Wikipedia