The Nature Conservancy in Iowa - Reintroduction of Bison to Iowa: Bison Diary, Entry #5

The reintroduction of bison on the largest, contiguous native prairie in Iowa is a celebration of the progress that the Conservancy has made in Iowa, with your help. Please support this ongoing, important program.

Bison History
The bison population was decimated in the 1800s to almost extinction. However, a handful survived and have served as the basis for our repopulation to areas where the “buffalo roamed.” More history.

Current Bison Population
Most bison are in private ownership. Many reside in our public parks and conservation areas. Where are the bison?

The Nature Conservancy Herds
The Conservancy has a rich but relatively brief history with bison. The first herd of 18 bison was acquired in 1984 at the Samuel H. Ordway Memorial Prairie in South Dakota. The Conservancy manages almost 5,000 bison at their eight preserves. Conservancy bison preserves.

Grasslands Worldwide
Broken Kettle Grasslands Preserve is a globally unique landscape. By maintaining and restoring areas in the Loess Hills, the Conservancy and partners are conserving the least protected habitat on Earth, with only 2 percent of native grasslands remaining. Learn more about other grasslands around the world.

First Calf Born: April 20, 2009

Ever since we established this herd here at our Broken Kettle Grassland Preserve we knew we had a great chance at having some calves this spring. With a herd of this size, you’d expect that we’d have between 8–10 calves starting in mid-April through June. We noticed that one of our cows was missing from the herd on April 17.

Bison typically take off and calve on their own, so we weren’t surprised when she returned to the herd the next day with her calf. It’s a pretty thick little calf and it’s really mobile. It’s moving around the pasture and following the herd. The cow is nursing. We’ll let them do their thing.

This is really exciting. This is the first bison born at Broken Kettle. That makes this calf the first bison born on native prairie in Iowa in more than a century and a half — at least within a herd established for conservation.

It tells a lot about the condition of both the prairie and the herd. We moved these bison from South Dakota last year and we had a pretty tough winter here in Iowa. That they’re able to calve tells me the forage is adequate and everything they need is here. They should be able to thrive and do what we want them to do ecologically.

Other Entries: