Cattle : BISON

 

Australian Status:

Country of origin : North America, Canada, Europe.

International status: Back to safe numbers in their home country of North America,

Arrived in Australia: 1983

Australian Population: Approx. 55 females. 2020. 2022: estimate 70 females. 

Distribution: USA, Australia, Canada

History:  From around 60 million bison in American and Canada, the population was reduced by European colonials to less than 500 (numbers vary, but low anyway). Conservation programs are building numbers up again. Although once called buffalo, this term is incorrect.

The species name of the European Bison is Bison bison bonasus, commonly called wisent.

The North America plains animal is Bison bison bison.

The woods bison of Canada and Alaska, is bison bison athabascae. All three look similar. All three need conservation.

The animals in Australia are of American plains origin. The woods bison has a slightly higher hump that is also set a little further forward than the plains bison, and a more pointed goatee. Bison once roamed from Mexico to Alaska. Bison means ox-like in Greek, and indeed they are members of the bovidae genus along with cattle, sheep and goats as well as antelope and gazelle. Once in the millions, bison now number a few thousand in their native lands.

Breed traits : They graze grass to different levels, which provides habitat for ground dwelling animals and birds. They wallow, to relieve itching at seasonal coat change time - these wallows make depressions for water storage - invaluable in vast areas that may not have water for miles. These depressions also create habitat for several species of animals and plants. In heavy snow, bison act as a natural plough, making good tracks through drifts so other animals and people can find their way to feed and shelter. 

Small, upwardly curving horns.  A distinctive profile with hump and massive forequarters. Strong hide with thick fur, usually referred to as wool. Winter wool is thickest, in spring they moult heavily and have a finer summer coat. The wool has many uses, from rope to insulation, and ranges in the coat from fine micron to coarse wool (not mixed, different micron thicknesses of wool grow on different areas of the body). Males live alone or in bachelor herds, only seeking females in breeding season, called the rut. Females form big maternal herds to care for young. They conceive once a year but will have a year off if not in good condition. 

They travel up to three kilometres a day seeking feed. Due to massive lungs they have immense stamina, and can out-walk and out-run domestic cattle - reaching 58 kilometres an hour in steady running. Bison like to roll vigorously and rub themselves on trees, especially when moulting. Older bison have more hair on their heads. Bulls stand about 1.8 metres at the shoulder and weight from 700 to over 900 kilos. Females weigh about half the weight of a male. Bison live up to 45 years.

They eat in the early morning and evening and spend the other time chewing their cud. They are easy to keep as they prefer low quality feed, even hay, to rich pasture, and browse on shrubs and trees; and are resistant to most cattle parasites. Once feed has dried off, such as for summer, that is the feed they prefer. In snow they use their horns and hooves to dig for feed. They are great at eating weeds to keep paddocks clean.

Although easy keepers regarding feed, good fences are necessary. Being intelligent, they are curious and can be trained but due to a strong pecking order rigorously maintained, it requires knowledge of the breed to interact with them safely on farm; they are however affectionate too. They have a keen sense of smell, a male can smell a female from a distance and over other smells. Once vital to the First Nations of America as a source of food and hides, and valuable in other ways such as providing wallows where other game, birds and medicinal and food plants could be found. The pats (droppings) made good fuel for heating and cooking. American colonials used the hides as a source of income, hence bison being brought to the edge of extinction.

Bison cross with beef cattle (bos taurus), although early experiments doing this had some sterile animals, careful breeding from 1980 using Charolais and Hereford have created a breed called Beefalo, in America, the beef having most of the tremendous healthy qualities of the bison being low in fat and cholesterol. Some have also crossed bison here with cattle. Due to experiments with this over a century or more it's thought many bison now carry cattle markers in their DNA.

Bison are a multi-purpose animal. There is the tourist option of camera herds for passive income. Some train them to do tricks such as being ridden, for entertainment, which is an income. They have been used to train cutting horses. The meat finds ready sales as a gourmet product; cooking more quickly than traditional beef a chef quickly learns how to use it. It is a heart healthy meat, having far less fat than normal beef - less fat than skinned chicken. It is high in iron and vitamin B12 and low in calories. Low in cholesterol. The healthy aspect of grass fed beef is known, having up to three times as much healthy Omega-3 fatty acid as feedlot beef.  What makes grass fed bison amazing is that it's lower in fat and cholesterol than grass fed beef.

It is the leanest meat in the world, a Canadian study found. The fat is the healthy sort, and like all grass fed animals slightly more yellowish that the stark white fat of grain fed animals. Flavour is similar to beef. The percentage of marketable meat obtained from a carcass is similar to cattle. Care must be taken getting them to an abbatoir as bruising due to stress in transportation means bruised meat, which is lost in cutting; hence the bison association here pushing for field slaughter/on-farm slaughter to alleviate stress and maximise return. The meat is importantly tender, yet without marbling, being tender due to shorter fibres than normal cattle; a sought after gourmet product and extremely healthy.

The hides, which are huge and have fur up to 4 inches thick, are valuable - selling for about $1,000 for floor rugs - also make excellent leather, very strong, at least four times stronger than cattle leather. The wool is popular with spinners, being robust and elastic, and having no lanolin hence good for those with sheep wool allergies. It is warmer than sheep wool. The mounted heads and horns have good decor value.

Having a species outside their country of origin is an insurance population.

Organisation:  The American Bison Association of Australia  has information on their website. Not a registry.

Some are on private properties and there's a small herd on Werribee Open Range Zoo, first imported there in 1983. Also at Dubbo Zoo. Bison were also imported by Ashley Brown of Beetoomba Bison in 1989 - five heifer calves and one bull calf - forming domestic herds. A permit for feral/exotic animals is required to keep them. There are several bison herds in Australia. Some are on Leahton Park (Texas Wagon Tours) in Qld.

Additional Notes: 

Photo : Wikimedia commons, bison in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma, North America.

Page by Janet Lane

 

---

 

Back to Cattle