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| Distribution |
In NC, bisons formerly occurred in the western half of the state, at least to the central Piedmont, if not in the eastern Piedmont. The species disappeared from the state by 1765 (Lee and Funderburg 1977). Because museums do not have collection material to positively document county records of bisons in the state, the county map below is based mainly on natural history writings from several centuries ago -- probably before counties and their boundaries were named and mapped.
Formerly occurred over most of North America, but now limited to the Great Plains northward into Canada. |
| Abundance |
Extirpated in NC. Even within the overall range, it is absent in most areas, and limited mainly to protected parks and other reserves. |
| Seasonal Occurrence |
Occurred year-round. |
| Habitat |
In NC, bisons occurred in open woodlands, presumably in fairly level topography. Natural wildfires, plus grazing by bisons and other large herbivores, likely kept forested areas more open than they are today. Thus, the species presumably occurred over much of the central and western Piedmont, especially in flatlands in the southern Piedmont (Cabarrus, Stanly, Mecklenburg, etc., counties). |
| Behavior |
In the Great Plains, bisons graze in large herds, though the behavior in NC is probably not well known. Lee et al. (1982) state that the eastern bison "lived in small scattered herds and did not dominate its habitat as did the plains-dwelling form". |
| Comments |
Sometimes, one way to determine the historical range of a species is to look at geographical place names. Thus, the presence of Dutch Buffalo Creek, Irish Buffalo Creek, and other "Buffalo" creeks and place names is almost surely indicative of former inhabitance by the American Bison, called "Buffalo" by most people. |
| Origin |
Extirpated |
| NC List |
Official |
 State Rank |
SX |
| State Status |
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| Global Rank |
G4 |
| Federal Status |
|
| subspecies |
Bison bison bison |
| other_comName |
Bison, Buffalo |
| synonym |
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