THE AMERICAN BISON.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 150, 26 June 1908, Page 7

THE AMERICAN BISON.

j . —= «- ■ ■ ; It may surprise many people to know that, so lar from the American bison approaching extinction,., the numbers.of this species ii» captivity —the term includes animUs in reserves like the Yellowstone Park—are decidedly on the increase (says the Field). This gratifying fact is set out at length in the first report of the American Bison Society, founded- in December, 1905, with the object of preserving the bison. Mr Theodore Roosevelt is the honorary, and Mr W. T. Hornaday, director of the New York Zoological Park, the active, president; and the co-operation of Canadians has been sought and obtained. The first work of the society rjtfas the examination of the Flathead" reservation in Montana in orjSer to select a suitable location for ar range "in which to confine and perpetually maintain and propagate a herd of American bison." An >area in the Flathead Valley was recommended; ;it extends over about 18,000 acres, ' and is estimated to afford ample grazing ground for from 1500 to 2000 bison, with abundance of water and plenty of shelter from the storms of winter. It would also be suitable for wapiti and,other deer and antelope, and mountain sheep should do well on it. There, for the present, the matter rests, but the society is putting forth every effort to) secure the land from Congress, and ihe money, for the herd of bison to 'put on it. In addition to this the State..of New # York has decided to establish a herd in the Adirondacks. The Legislature has sanctioned the expenditure/ and I though this has been vetoed by the ! Governor, the officers of the society ■ are not in the least dismayed thereat. "The 8,000,000 people of New York -. desire to have a bison herd of their own on land which they own in the Adirondacks, and they are ready and willing to pay the very trifling-sums that it will cost."