This bison seems to have been an inhabitant of most of the forests of Europe and Northern Asia; its remains show that it existed in Britain, and it was plentiful in the Black Forest in the time of Cæsar. It is the largest of all European quadrupeds, measuring as much as 10 feet 1 inch from the nose to the root of the tail, and standing nearly 6 feet high at the shoulder. Prince Demidoff states his belief that it is found on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Range between the hills and the Black Sea. The weight of this bison reaches 1,700 lbs. It is now rare to see more than five or six together. Though the animal is so massive, its horns are rather small and slender, and curve upwards. The mane—which, like the rest of the coat, is of a uniform rich brown—is thick and curly, but not developed like that of the American bison.
The American Bison.
The American bison is the western representative of the bison of Europe. The almost complete disappearance of this species is one of the warnings against reckless destruction of animal life. It was formerly found in millions on the prairies, and its meat formed the staple food of the Red Indians, who lived on the flesh and used the "robes" of those killed in winter for great coats and bedding. When Audubon went up the Upper Missouri, bison were in sight almost throughout the voyage; they were even carried down on ice-flows on the river. The bulls were very large, and were occasionally savage, especially when attacked and wounded; but usually they were harmless animals. Every winter and spring they made migrations along regular routes to fresh pastures. These lines of travel were then black with bison. The females had their calves by their sides, and all travelled in herds, feeding as they went. At the present time the only remains of the bison are the paths they left on the prairies, and their bones and skulls. The paths are still distinctly seen, worn by the "treks" of the great beasts which have now perished. The bones were collected in stacks and sold to make manure.
Photo by W. P. Dando] [Regent's Park.
DOMESTICATED YAK.
The wild bovine animal of the Central Asian plateau, tamed and domesticated.
Colonel Roosevelt, in an article contributed to "The Encyclopædia of Sport," thus describes the destruction of the bison: "Pursuit by sportsmen had nothing to do with the extermination of the bison. It was killed by the hide-hunters, redskin, white, and half-breed. The railways, as they were built, hastened its destruction, for they gave means of transporting the heavy robes to market. But it would have been killed out anyhow, even were there no railroads in existence. Once the demand for the robes became known to the Indians, they were certain to exterminate it. Originally the bison ranged from the Rocky Mountains to the Alleghanies, and from Mexico to the Peace River. But its centre of abundance was the vast extent of grass-land stretching from the Saskatchewan to the Rio Grande. All the earlier explorers who crossed these great plains, from Lewis and Clarke onwards, spoke of the astonishing multitudes of the bison, which formed the sole food of the Horse Indians. The herds were pressed steadily back, but the slaughter did not begin till after the Civil War; then the commercial value of the robes became fully recognised, and the transcontinental railways rendered the herds more accessible. The slaughter was almost incredible, for the bison were slain literally by millions every year. They were first exterminated in Canada and the southern plains. It was not till 1883 that the last herd was killed off from the great north-western prairies."
The height of a fine bull American bison at the shoulder is 6 feet. The horns are short, blunt, and curved, and set farther back on the forehead than in the European species. The hindquarters are low and weak, and the mane develops in winter into a thick robe, covering the neck, shoulders, and chest. An adult bull bison was found to weigh 1,727 lbs. The woodland-bison of Athabasca, now nearly exterminated, are larger than the prairie-bison, and have finer coats. In 1897 there were said to be between 280 and 300 head remaining in two herds.
THE BUFFALOES.