The U.S. Mammal Is A Utah Favorite
The first Saturday in Nov. is National Bison Day and Utah has a few Bison related attractions and a University that has its as its mascot.
There are about 500 to 700 bison in the Antelope Island State Park herd depending on the time of year and as cool as they look, you don’t want to get too close. Yes, go see the bison, but from far, far away.
The U.S. National Park Service has an entire series on bison since it became the national mammal in 2016. In order to protect the bison herds in the U.S. several associations worked together to convince Congress to name the bison the national mammal, the NPS website said.
“Less than 100 years ago, the American bison was teetering on the verge of extinction. By the beginning of the 20th century, the species' numbers fell from herds of roughly 40 million to less than 1,000 individuals. “
The Inter-Tribal Bison Council, which was formed in 1990, came together to protect these animals and was one of the groups to push for its national status in 2016, National Day.com said.
So now that you know a little bit of history, how do you even recognize National Bison Day?
- Got to Antelope Island State Park! For Utah residents, this may be the most obvious choice. Head out to this state park and see if you can catch a peak of the bison herd that resides there.
- If getting up close and personal with a bison (not really) isn’t your thing, plop down on the couch and find a bison show. There has to be something on Discovery, History, or Nature Channels. You might learn something new.
- Visit a museum that has a history of the local bison.
- Read about them!
- You can always help with conservation by donating to the cause. Utah is all about conservation so finding a wildlife or bison-specific organization should be no issue.
Here are a few you can check out:
- https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Wildlife-Conservation/Bison
- https://defenders.org/action
- https://www.utahwildlifefederation.org/
And on that note...Bi-son!