Migratory Project

American Bison

Alex Karcich

I’m a Plains Bison calf which means I like big, wide,
open areas of land, I am a herbivore so I eat grasses
lichen and berries.

When migrating and traveling together I am surrounded
by my parents, and their friends while traveling. My own
herd has its own migration path made by years of
traveling, and is visible from the air.

We don’t have a far migration distance, especially being
a Plains Bison. We only follow our previous routes that
we took, for food during the winter. I follow this route
every winter and it helps me sustain a healthy diet for
the winter, until we go back.

It has now been 5 years, since we’ve last spoken, I am
now a matured young bull. I now have to fight other
males for mates and, I spend a period of time during the
year to be by myself. I’m still eating grass, berries, and
lichens, I also still roam the plains.

Some natural challenges for me as an adult are that
sometimes, when it’s a harsh deep winter, I could lose
track of the herd and end up lost and possibly starve to
death. Another challenge is mating season, finding a
mate is hard and sometimes I can get pretty messed up.

My kind were widely hunted throughout North America
and there were 30 million of us at one point. We almost
went extinct due to the demand of meat and hide.
Another challenge for my kind, is we’re confined to such
small places, because of that, there are now just 325 of
us left.