Bison Help Restore Natural Habitat

 

Bison are large animals with big heavy brown fur. Also called buffalo¹, they are the largest mammals in North America.

They stand about 1.83 meters at the shoulder and weigh up to just over 900 kilograms. In 2016, the American bison was officially named the national mammal of the U.S.

Bison once numbered in the millions. Since prehistoric² times, they moved around from the Appalachian to the Rocky Mountains in the United States. In the 19th century, people hunted them for meat and hides — people used the skin and fur to make products. They were down to only a few hundred animals by the late 1880s, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Now their numbers are growing. There are an estimated 500,000 bison living in North America. They are increasing in part because they are helping⁴ restore lands in the U.S. Fewer than 30,000 wild bison live in conservation herds⁶. But in Indiana, bison are helping undo⁷ more than a hundred years of environmental damage.

Ted³ Anchor is the program manager for the Northwest Indiana Nature Conservancy Program. Standing⁸ outside on a windy day, he spoke⁹ about the project.

"By creating this large-scale restoration project, we’ve been able to harbor all those species that were just barely hanging on."

Anchor says the 429-hectare reserve used to be the largest lake in Indiana. But in the 19th century, the water was removed and the land was used for agriculture. They cannot bring back the lake, but they can bring back the prairie, or grass covered areas.

Bringing in bison helps both the animals and the land. Bison eat grasses.

"And bison are a really easy way to get short grass prairie. Just by living and doing what bison do which is mostly eat grasses and make little bison—they create the short grass prairie for us."

Now it is a sea of tall dried grass, with some small pieces of spring green. For 20 years, the Indiana chapter of the Nature Conservancy has been working to bring back the prairie at Kankakee Sands Nature Reserve. Late last year they took the last step. They brought in 23 bison, including 16 which were pregnant.

It is the thirteenth herd⁵ that the Nature Conservancy owns. They have herds from Mexico all the way up to North Dakota.

In some parts of the U.S. bison are raised for food. But these animals on the reserve will not be raised for meat, but just to manage the environment. The wild herds, or groups, take care of themselves without much help from humans.

What the bison do

The bison’s work is not limited to grazing, or eating the prairie grasses. But when they do, it allows wildflowers to grow. That provides habitats, or housing for rare birds. The bison also roll around on the ground, which creates low areas. These fill up with rainwater, and attract small animals.

It is expected that the Kankakee Sands herd will grow to about 75 animals. Supporters say the land should go back to looking like it did when thousands of bison lived there, long ago.

Words in This Story

prehistoric - adj. of, relating to, or existing in the time before people could write

hide – n. the skin of an animal

herd – n. a large group of animals that live or are kept together

large-scale – adj. covering or involving a large area

prairie – n. a large, mostly flat area of land in North America that has few trees and is covered in grasses

1 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

2 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

6 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

7 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。