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Comment by aodin | Hacker News Reader

Denver, Colorado maintains two bison herds descended from the last wild North American bison. There were as few as 18 bison left in Colorado at the beginning of the 1900s. Thankfully, the conservation project has been a success and Denver has been transferring bison to Native American tribes to start additional herds. The herds are just about 30 minutes from downtown if you ever visit.

More info, pictures, and video here: https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Of...

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They really are majestic creatures. (albeit a bit grumpy)

If anyone in the US hasn't seen one in person, I'd recommend making the effort. Much different experience than simply seeing a picture, especially if it's on open range like Yellowstone National Park.

They're huge (~10' long, 6' tall). They're heavy (~1700 lbs). They're fast (~40mph, in the locomotive, once-they-get-1700lbs-going sense).

And they fit perfectly in scale with the plains.

(Disclaimer: Don't approach them, as they generally don't like that. And you don't want one angry at you)

The bison herd of Lamar Valley in Yellowstone is regularly on the road particularly around sunset. It's an amazing traffic jam.

Stay in your car of course.

Accessible in winter, readers should note. (Most of Yellowstone can not be accessed by road in the winter).

Right. It’s kept open in winter because it is the only access to Cooke City.

Wyoming 296 (Chief Joseph Highway) gets closed at the west end of Sunlight Basin.

During the winter, I believe there is snowmobile access, either guided or unguided (pass-limited-per-day): https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/snowmobiles-snowcoach...

If you’re in the NYC area, the Bronx Zoo has some. Not the same as the plains, but definitely a shorter drive.

They are fascinating creatures.

There's also a small herd in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-24-mn-791-st...

Sounds like moose: far bigger, stronger, and faster than you were expecting.

I heard they can also leap 6ft fences, which seems incredible for such a large mammal.

They have this spring thing, where you see them wind up for half a second and then they do something far more agile (accelerate, jump, etc.) than you'd expect... for something that weighs that much.

Will never forget meeting a group on a trail, stepping off behind a (SUV-sized) boulder, then feeling them spook a bit and in 2 seconds go from a leisurely walking to thundering trot. Earth shaking with them just in a mild hurry! Not even full speed!

But they're built to outfight anything smaller than them and outrun anything bigger than them, so I guess they're as strong/fast as they need to be.

It doesn't mean they lift their entire body up 6 ft. They just have to be high enough to clear the belly while lifting their legs up. Just like steeplechase runners do. High jumpers never have their center of gravity above the bar, they just kinda fold themselves over it.

I read this and thought surely the center of gravity still has to pass over the bar. But right you are, the center of gravity can pass below the bar since it's just the average point of the mass. Cool!

Fun fact visitors might not know: San Francisco has some bison in Golden Gate Park.

Fermilab has had a herd on the grounds since the beginning. Used to be that visitors could get pretty close (but still behind the fence), but I haven't visited in many years.

https://www.fnal.gov/pub/about/bisoncam/

While of course the bison there are fine, this reminds me of the National Lampoon's joke newspaper from Dacron, Ohio. One running joke there was an effort by environmentalists to protect the Dacron Nine-eyed Trout, which was only found near Dacron's nuclear power plant.

My uncle worked at Fermilab. The joke there was that the bison were the ultimate problem detectors. "If we look out at the ring and the bison are all dead, then we really have a problem".

The National Bison Range is worth a visit...to the degree Montana is a place you want to see.

https://bisonrange.org/bison-range-information-hours-of-oper...

There's also a large herd (1300+) at Custer State Park in South Dakota.

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