328 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



Santa Fe Railroad in 1872-1874 shipped 1,378,359 bison hides, and it 

 was estimated that in 1872 one hide represented 3 animals killed, or 

 2 in 1873, and 100 hides represented 125 killed in 1874, hence al- 

 together 3,158,730 dead animals were represented by the three years' 

 shipments; 2,250,400 pounds of bison meat and 10,793,350 pounds 

 of bones were also shipped. 17 These figures represent only part of the 

 animals destroyed in one area in three years. 



When the American Bison Society was organized, December 8, 

 1905, it was said that there were only noo pure-bred bisons in 

 America, but there were 3453 in 1913 and 10,000 in 1922. 18 In 1924 

 it was reported that the Canadian herd had increased from 709 to 8000, 

 making it necessary to dispose of some each year to avoid overstock- 

 ing the limited range, and that there were 4500 in the United States, 

 shipments having been made from the Montana National Bison Range 

 to prevent overstocking. 19 The bison is a grazer, best suited to the 

 western plains, but occurred also in the mountains and at an early 

 date extended into the eastern states. Efforts to domesticate it have 

 met with marked success, considering the short time since the experi- 

 ment was begun. It has also been sucessfully crossed with domestic 

 cattle, producing a breed known as cattalo. The bisons' great strength 

 would have made them valuable draft animals, had they been domesti- 

 cated and trained to work in harness a few decades ago, when draft 

 animals were more needed than they are in this motor-truck age. 



The European bison, or wisent, once widely distributed in Europe 

 and abundant in some localities, is now extinct except possibly for a 

 few small herds in isolated mountain regions, and somewhat more than 

 sixty pure-bred animals in European game parks and zoological gar- 

 dens. 20 



The African buffalo was formerly abundant in many localities. About 

 1890 a virulent form of rinderpest exterminated them in large areas. 

 After the epidemic they increased rapidly where breeding stock was 

 left. 21 The buffalo is listed by Roosevelt as one of the five dangerous 



17 Nelson, The economic importance of wild life, Scientific Monthly, xvi, 367-373, 

 1923. 



18 Science, xxxix, 586, 1914; LV, 639, 1922. Hewitt, The coming back of the bison, 

 Natural History, xix, 553-565, 1919. 



19 California Fish and Game, x, 45, 1924. 



20 Lucas, Animals recently extinct or threatened with extermination, Ann. Kept. 

 U. S. Natl. Museum for 1889, p. 621. Ahrens, The present status of the European 

 bison or wisent, Journ. Mammalogy, n, 58-62, 1921 ; Proposals for the preservation 

 of the European bison, or wisent, Bull. Zool. Soc., xxvi, 46-50, 1923 ; Science, LVIII, 

 107, 1923. Mohr, Misleading news regarding the wisent, Journ. Mammalogy, x, 356, 

 1929. 



21 Roosevelt, African game trails, pp. 58, 288, 1910. 



