American bison News

National Bison Day is the first Saturday in November and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute has a big reason to celebrate these iconic animals! Wallow in the autumn leaves with the Zoo’s bison, Lucy and Gally, and animal keeper Regina Bakely, as she shares her stories...

If you have visited the Zoo during the summer, then you know it can get hot, muggy and buggy here in Washington, D.C.! Find out how keepers use enrichment to help animals stay cool in the heat.

Spending your days with a herd of bison is an idyllic way to pass a summer. I would know, because most of my days from May to August were spent observing the behaviors of a herd of about 300 bison in Montana.

They’re bossy, playful and always in the mood for food—meet Lucy and Gally, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s new American Bison! 

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute has welcomed “Lucy” and “Gally,” two juvenile female American bison.

Ungulate keepers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are mourning the loss of two elderly American Bison, a male named Ten Bears and a female named Kicking Bird, who were humanely euthanized May 14. They were both 22 years old. 

Smithsonian ecologists worked with American Prairie Reserve staff to fit bison with GPS ear tags. Their movement study will help researchers understand how bison move and use the landscape at the Reserve in Montana.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo humanely euthanized Zora, a 7-year-old bison, earlier today.

How can you begin to study something as vast and diverse as the American prairie? Find out in the latest blog from landscape ecologist Hila Shamon who is stationed at American Prairie Reserve in Montana.

All seasons on the prairie are special. But spring is just a little more special than the rest, as every day birds return for summer breeding season.

Landscape ecologist Hila Shamon spent the first two weeks of April working with American Prairie Reserve to place GPS collars on plains bison.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo was created in 1889 and opened its doors in 1891. To celebrate its 130th anniversary, look back at how the Zoo has evolved through the years.

Conservation ecologist Andy Boyce lives on the American Prairie Reserve in Phillips County, Montana. It's rugged, it's wild and it's one of the only places left on Earth where scientists have the chance to preserve a complete prairie ecosystem.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is dedicated to saving species. Every year, its team of conservationists here and around the globe works hard to make that mission a reality — and 2018 was no exception.

The iconic song of the American West, “Home on the Range,” got a key detail wrong — buffalo never roamed the region! But bison still do. Isn’t it time you learned why?

On March 2, 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill passed by both Houses that officially established the National Zoo and allocated funds for the purchase of land. To celebrate its 125th Anniversary, the Smithsonian's National Zoo is proud to bring back the animal that sparked the...