The American bison , typically referred to as the American buffalo, is a North American variety of bison once roaming the grasslands of North America in large herds. Their range at one time just about made up a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in Canada's far northwest, south to the Mexican states of Durango and Nuevo Leon, and east across the western boundary of the Appalachian Mountains. As a result of industrial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century, the bison almost went extinct and today it is limited to several national parks and other reserves.
