American Bison Society
American bison ranging at the National Bison Range in western Montana, established by the petitioning and fundraising of the American Bison Society | |
| Abbreviation | ABS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1905 (reestablished 2005) |
| Founder | New York Zoological Society |
| Dissolved | 1935 |
| Type | Conservation organization |
| Purpose | Protection and restoration of the American bison |
Region | North America |
Parent organization | Wildlife Conservation Society (since 2005) |
The American Bison Society (ABS) was a conservation organization founded in 1905 by the New York Zoological Society to help save the bison from extinction and raise public awareness about the species by pioneering conservationists and sportsmen including Ernest Harold Baynes (the Society's first secretary), William T. Hornaday, Madison Grant and Theodore Roosevelt.
Over 40 million American bison (Bison bison) once roamed the plains and grasslands from Mexico to central Canada, shaping the landscape with their migrations, grazing patterns, and behavior. By the 1870s, their populations had been decimated by westward expansion and over-hunting. An 1889 survey published by Hornaday, who would go on to become the first director of the Bronx Zoo, showed that approximately 1,000 bison remained in North America.