Never mind what the unofficial anthem of the American West says about buffalo roaming—this type of bovid is not found on U.S. soil. What we have stateside, making up the best-known herds in Yellowstone National Park and on Catalina Island, are bison.
Though bison are sometimes colloquially called buffalo, the two are biologically different, unconnected in their ranges, and can be told apart by a few distinguishing physical features. Here's everything you need to know about the two oft-confused families of ancient grazing giants.
Buffalo and Bison Classification
Buffalo and bison belong to the tribe Bovini, which includes medium to massive animals of the Bovidae family. The Bovidae family also includes antelopes, gazelles, goats, and sheep.
While a number of Bovini species are commonly called buffalo or bison (the anoa a "dwarf buffalo" and the gaur "Indian bison," for example), there are only four true bison and buffalo species.
American bison (Bison bison) roam in Yellowstone and are portrayed on the National Park Service's arrowhead emblem and the U.S. Department of the Interior's seal. They're the heaviest land animals in North America and, since 2016, the U.S.'s national mammal, joining the patriotic ranks of its national bird, the bald eagle. READ MORE...
The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced on Friday the return of more than 400 acres of land to an indigenous tribe in Virginia.
About 465 acres at Fones Cliffs on the eastern side of the Rappahannock River was returned to the Rappahannock Tribe, which regards the sacred site as its ancestral homeland, according to a press release from the DOI.
The Rappahannock Tribe will own and maintain the land, but the site, within the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, will be available to the public. The tribe plans to create trails and a replica 16th-century village at the site to educate visitors.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) also holds a permanent conservation easement on the land, which was donated to them by environmental organization Chesapeake Conservancy.
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, said she was “honored to join the Rappahannock Tribe in co-stewardship of this portion of their ancestral homeland.”
“This historic reacquisition underscores how Tribes, private landowners, and other stakeholders all play a central role in this Administration’s work to ensure our conservation efforts are locally led and support communities’ health and well-being,” Haaland said in a statement.
The Biden administration has been working to support indigenous people and tribes through an array of methods, including building out physical infrastructure and financially supporting tribal nations, according to a White House fact sheet released in November. READ MORE...
