Brighten up any home with this "Bison Art - Bright Blue Bison Canvas Print".
The American Bison (also called the American Buffalo or just the Buffalo) is the largest surviving terrestrial animal in North America. They are broad and muscular with long shaggy coats, grow up to 2 metres in height, 3 metres in length, and weigh up to 2,800 pounds. In every sense they are impressive.
In the 19th and 20th Centuries they were hunted very close to extinction. Pre 1800s it is estimated that there were up to 60 million bison roaming the great plains of North America. But by 1884 that number reached a low point of just 324, including just 24 in Yellowstone National Park (which was founded on 1st March 1872 as the world's first National Park, and which is on the corner of three states, Wyoming (mainly: about 96% of the park is in Wyoming. 3% of the park is in Montana, and 1% Idaho)
There were many factors involved in the near destruction of the American Buffalo, but one of the biggest was the construction of the railroad across America which massively sped up human settlement.
It is sobering quite how quickly human intervention can impact on an animal species when you look at the timeline of estimated bison numbers.
Pre-1800 - 60,000,000
1830 - 40,000,000
1840 - 35,650,000
1870 - 5,500,000
1880 - 395,000
1884 - 324
1889 - 541 (US)
1900 - 300 (US) 15,000 (Canada)
1944-47 - 5,000 (US)
1951 - 23,340
2000 - 360,000
'Hunting' Bison is a little bit of an oxymoron, because given their roaming nature, when one bison in a herd is killed, the other bison gather around it. So it becomes relatively easy for a hunter to kill entire herds.
Even though numbers have picked up in recent years, much of this is actually down to increasing uses being made of their meat, hide, wool and dairy products. In 2005 for example, 35,000 bison were processed for meat in the United States.
Due to the recent intermingling with cattle, pure bred Bison are still actually relatively rare, with only an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 of the surviving species estimated to not also have cattle genes.
In terms of 'free-roaming' Bison, as we might typically think of them. There are only a handful of herds that are still both free-roaming and genetically-pure Bison, without genes from cattle.
These American bison herds can be found in:
Yellowstone Park (this herd of buffalo has grown since the 24 in 1884 to now be an estimated 4.900 bison in 2015)
Henry Mountains, Utah
Wind Cave, South Dakota (both reckoned to now have between 250 and 400 buffalo each)
With another herd in Canada at Elk Island National Park.
So, short of seeing one in captivity. Yellowstone is probably your best bet for seeing a Bison as your ancestors may have done.
Or... You can see a blue bison on your walls everyday!
What better canvas to have on your wall then one of the very symbols of America?
Great for Decorating a Whole Home
This canvas is available in four different colors :
And also a single canvas 'Bison Pop Art - Four Colored Buffalo- Andy Warhol Inspired Bison Canvas Print' version which has some different color variations.
(You can see the other single color versions at the links above)
So, with the possibility to purchase 5 different (but similarly themed) canvases, you have a unique opportunity to purchase several variations for different rooms, and have a consistent bison theme throughout your home.
