William Temple Hornaday was an early--and probably a founding--member of the American conservation movement, and was also director of the National Zoological Park. He wrote a tremendously bitter and accurate report for the U.S. National Museum in 1894 on the extermination of the American bison, an absolute head-shaker, detailing the history of the bison in North America and its destruction at the hands of sportsmen, hunters, mindless dolts and many others who massacred tens of millions of the animal ("murdered" is the word Hornaday uses constantly). To put the whole issue in perspective, Hornaday issued a famous map showing the shrinkage of the North American bison herd, setting out the enormity of the issue instantly on one piece of paper, a summary of hundreds of pages of bad stories and big numbers.
posted by Trurl
on Jun 15, 2011 -
18 comments
The American Great Plains
rival the Serengeti, according to National Geographic, but unlike in apparently more progressive Africa, the USA never protected the plains
on a large scale. Now private interests under the
The American Prairie Foundation are buying up land in Montana
hoping to create a multi-million acre preserve that would be the largest privately funded conservation land venture on the planet, bigger than Yellowstone National Park, that one day may see the return of great migrating herds of bison, pronghorn antelope, deer and elk.
Not all Montana ranchers are happy with the new Serengeti neighbor.
posted by stbalbach
on Aug 21, 2010 -
33 comments
The
hunting of American Bison got a renewal today. The first hunt of the buffalo, in 15 years, began with a Belgrade, MT,
boy killing a bull with 4 shots, shortly after the hunt began. The 15 year hiatus on hunting Bison in Montana was contentious,
if not downright nasty, but that's over now. Montana has allowed Bison hunting outside Yellowstone park, and it's
been a media show. Of course, this
really pisses some folks off, to which hunters claim, "
It's like the hunter's become the hunted". The mountain west of the US has become a battle ground of
flowing ideas, with man against nature, and man against man. The Endangered Species Act, the very thing that has lead us to this event,
is under siege. People begin to notice when critters die.
Welcome to
Bison Hunt, 101.
posted by Wulfgar!
on Nov 16, 2005 -
64 comments
