. The bison of Yellowstone National Park. American bison; Mammals. The Bison Population 27 An actual count was difficult, as Nowlin (1912) of the Biological Survey found: "I have never seen buffaloes on the range so wary and difficult to locate as the wild ones in the Yellowstone ; Official population estimates of the time did not allow for more animals than were actually seen; they were undoubtedly conserva- tive. By 1912, as Nowlin's classifi- cation of 35 animals shows, the survival of calves (8) and yearlings (7) was encouraging, and the po- tential for increase (13 females)
. The bison of Yellowstone National Park. American bison; Mammals. The Bison Population 27 An actual count was difficult, as Nowlin (1912) of the Biological Survey found: "I have never seen buffaloes on the range so wary and difficult to locate as the wild ones in the Yellowstone ; Official population estimates of the time did not allow for more animals than were actually seen; they were undoubtedly conserva- tive. By 1912, as Nowlin's classifi- cation of 35 animals shows, the survival of calves (8) and yearlings (7) was encouraging, and the po- tential for increase (13 females) was apparent. By 1915, the popu- lation may have been nearing 100. Known mortality is shown only in 1904. While winter loss probably occurred during other years, the death of many animals would surely have been observed and reported by Army patrols or scouts. Present composition An estimate of the contribution of the two subspecies to the pre- sent population gene pool is, at best, rough but is preferable to having none. Table 3 shows the sex and adult-calf composition of the fenced herd from 1902 through 1915. The addition to this herd of four calves captured by Army scouts (Fig. 13) from the wild herd for the purpose of add- ing a second bloodline is also shown. From these numbers, Ta- ble 4 was compiled to show the age classes according to sex. The bulls 4 years and older were assumed to have done the breeding in this fenced situation, although young- er bulls may have been physically capable. Females were assumed to breed as 2-year-olds and to calve at 3. From these assumptions and the. Fig. 13. Buffalo Jones and Army Scout Holt with a captured bison calf on a sled. Photo from Yellowstone National Park Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Meagher, Margaret Mary; United States. Nationa
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Keywords: ., bookauthorunitedstatesnatio, bookcentury1900, booksubjectmammals
