Posing Bison Bull, Hayden Valley, Yellowstone Poster

"Posing Bison Bull, Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park" by Catherine Sherman. After a dust bath, an American bison bull poses on a sunny hillside in the Hayden Valley of Yellowstone National Park. A range in the Rocky Mountains stretch along the horizon. After a few minutes of showing his handsome profile, the bison crossed the road to join the rest of the herd that was grazing in the valley. Many people had parked their cars and trucks to view the bison herd and had to make way for the bull. A few Of the two surviving species of bison the American bison, Bison bison, found only in North America, is the more numerous. Although colloquially referred to as a buffalo in the United States and Canada,it is only distantly related to the true buffalo. Yellowstone National Park, located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though the park also extends into Montana and Idaho and its Mountains and Mountain Ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains. The Yellowstone River meanders through the Hayden Valley, which is a large, sub-alpine valley between Yellowstone Falls and Yellowstone Lake. The valley floor is an ancient lake bed from a time when Yellowstone Lake was much larger. According to the National Park Service website, Yellowstone National Park is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. "Bison live year-round in the Hayden Valley. Winters are often severe, with deep snows and temperatures reaching -44 degrees F (-42 degrees C). Bison from the central herd congregate in the Hayden Valley for breeding. As of July 2015, the Hayden Valley subpopulation consisted of 1,300 bison. Yellowstone bison are exceptional because they make up the nation’s largest bison population on public land and are among the few bison herds that have not been hybridized through interbreeding with cattle. Unlike most other herds, this population has thousands of individuals that are allowed to roam relatively freely over the expansive landscape of Yellowstone National Park and some nearby areas of Montana. They also exhibit wild behavior like their ancient ancestors, congregating during the breeding season to compete for mates, as well as migration and exploration that result in the use of new habitat areas. These behaviors have enabled the successful restoration of a population that was on the brink of extinction just over a century ago."