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ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



ZOOLOGICAL 

 SOCIETY BULLETIN 



EDITED BY THE DIRECTOR 



Elwin R. Sanborn, Asst. Editor. 



Published at the Office of ilte Society, II Wall St., New York City. 



Copyright, igoj, by the New York Zoohgical Society. 



No. 20. JANUARY, 1906 



Subscription price, 50 cents tor four numbers. 



Single numbers, 15 cents. 



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FOUNDING A NEW BISON HERD. 



A short time ago the Executive Committee of 

 the New York Zoological Society decided that the 

 measures thus far taken to insure the perpetual 

 preservation of the American bison, as a species, 

 are inadequate. It was pointed out that the 

 captive herds in the hands of private individuals 

 are continually being scattered through the deaths 

 of their original owners. It is well recognized that 

 the bison cannot be saved from extinction, even 

 for one century, by breeding in the close confine- 

 ment of zoological gardens and parks. Bison 

 on exhibition have practically no exercise, and 

 therefore cannot long perpetuate themselves to 

 perfection. 



The Zoological Society decided that it would 

 inaugurate a movement by private individuals to 

 establish herds on Government lands, which can 



live absolutely in a state of semi-wildness, and 

 develop well, through an infinite number of genera- 

 tions. In looking over the public domain, the 

 Wichita Forest Reserve, in southwestern Oklahoma, 

 near Fort Sill, seemed to offer the best opportunity 

 for the development of a great semi-wild herd of 

 bison. It was decided to offer the National 

 Government, as a gift, a herd of from fifteen to 

 twenty bisons, to be delivered by the Zoological 

 Society on the Wichita Reserve, provided the 

 Government will first fence in a suitable range 

 for the animals, to keep them from wandering, 

 and also to protect them from molestation. It is 

 believed that on that range, after one or two winters 

 of partial feeding on hay, a herd will be able to 

 live all the year round by grazing. 



Without loss of time, a definite offer of eighteen 

 bison, on the basis outlined above, was made to 

 the Government through the Secretary of Agricult- 

 ure. It met with a prompt and cordial response, 

 and a request to cooperate with the Bureau of 

 Forestry and the Biological Survey in the formula- 

 tion of a definite plan for the fencing of a carefully 

 selected area. In both the bureaus mentioned, the 

 idea met with cordial favor, and prompt action. 



The Society was invited to send an agent to 

 Oklahoma without delay, to join a representative 

 of the Forestry Bureau in selecting and recommend- 

 ing a location for the proposed range. On Novem- 

 ber 2 2d, Mr. J. Alden Loring left for the Wichita 

 Reserve, as the Society's agent, to report in detail 

 on all matters affecting the selection of a range, and 

 enclosing it with a wire fence. His report is now 

 in the hands of the Society, and the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



The Zoological Society proposes to take about 

 seven bison from its herd of thirty-two head, 

 and will purchase the remainder. The proposed 

 nucleus herd will contain at least three different 

 strains of blood, and it is believed that on the large 

 range which the herd will have, the animals will 

 increase so rapidly, and diverge so widely from 

 the parent stock, that the dangers of inbreeding will 

 be eliminated. 



Congress will be asked to appropriate for the 

 erection of the fence required a sum estimated at 

 $15,000. If this is granted promptly, the fence 

 can be erected next summer, and the bison 

 transferred and turned loose in the early autumn. 

 There is good reason to hope that this proposal 



