YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – A stunning video shows the violent strength of a bull bison in rut in America’s first national park.
The original video was posted by Yellowstone National Park on August 12, 2020, demonstrating the power of bison and reminding everyone to keep their distance during the rut, which is mating season.
The mating season runs from June to September, but July and August is when the animals are most on edge.
Listen for deep bellows, watch for bison rolling violently in the dust, and keep an eye out for male-male clashes across the wild North American landscape as males try to assert their dominance.
And keep your distance! Always stay at least 25 yards from bison and elk and 100 yards from all other wildlife, including bears and wolves.
“Bison are also called “buffalo,” but they are not related to African or Asian buffalo species,” says the National Park Service on its website. “Bison are wildlife and they are native to the North American continent. Generally speaking, Indigenous people prefer to use the term buffalo, and so the term is used in a cultural context where bison is used in scientific contexts.”
There are two types of bison: Plains bison, which were historically found in the lower 48 states and southern Canada, and the larger wood bison which lives in the northern regions of Canada and eastern Alaska.
There are several national parks where bison can be found, including:
- Badlands National Park, South Dakota
- Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
- Glacier National Park, Montana
- Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
- Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
- Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
- Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska
- Yellowstone National Park, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
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