14. Bison Behaviour Flashcards
Is the North American Buffalo a true buffalo?
No! Its closest relative is the European Bison (Wisent)
- Scientifically, the true name for the North American Buffalo is “Bison” but bc our history has so ingrained in us the name “Buffalo”, we still use it today
What has caused the Bison industry to re-think the term buffalo being applied to our “Bison” products? Why?
- Many more products from Water Buffalo have recently found their way into the North American markets
- Therefore, the Bison industry is encouraging all Bison producers and marketers to use the name “Bison” to avoid confusion w/ water buffalo products
- This will help inform the public that Bison is indeed the North American Buffalo they know and love
What are 6 similarities between bison and cattle?
- Grazing ruminants with split hooves
- Multiple stomachs and chew their cud
- Raise 1 calf/yr (twins are rare but possible)
- Gestation period ~9 months
- Calving and breeding seasons for bison closely follow the patterns in nature, with calves arriving in May and June and the breeding season running from shortly after the start of calving through August
- Males are capable of impregnating females btw 1-2 yrs of age; caveat: in practice, bison bulls don’t become dominant active breeders in the herd until they are ~4yrs old
What are 6 differences between bison and cattle?
- Male and female bison have horns, not all breeds of cattle grow horns
- Bison cows don’t have a calf until they are 3 yrs old, beef/dairy cows have a calf around 2 yrs of age
- Bison calves naturally weaned by their mothers around a month prior to the arrival of a new calf
- Calving and breeding seasons for dairy/beef cattle can potentially occur at almost any time of yr
- Bison have retained their natural instincts to a greater degree than domestic cattle and require some specialized handling
- Tails of bison are less than half the length of tails on cattle
4 characteristics of bison as grazers
- Bison are grazers and they walk while biting off mouthfuls of grass
- grass is swallowed and later brough up for cud-chewing
- diet is 99+% grasses - Can go a long time without water and travel long distances to find water
- An adult will consume more than 30 pounds of grass (dry weight) in a day
- Unlike cattle, don’t have to be fed supplementally during the winter
4 characteristics of bison locomotion
- Especially the large bulls LOOK very slow and clumsy (but they are very agile and fast)
- Run up to 35 mph
- Can jump 6 feet high and 7 feet horizontally
- this is why we have reinforced fences for bison - Powerful swimmers
Bison Wallows
Bulls and cows dry wallow (sometimes wet wallow) where they can stir clouds of dust
- Important in grooming, sensory stimulation, alleviating skin irritation, and reproductive behaviour
- Transports soils and seeds to other areas of the prairies
- Wallows also serve a purpose in the prairie ecosystem; collect rain water and form small ponds for vertebrates and invertebrates; supply of water enhances the growth of specific vegetation needing a moist or wet habitat
What sense is keen, what sense is poor?
Bison have a keen sense of smell, but their eyesight is poor
How do bison attract one another?
By uttering grunts
What is the general manner of bison?
They are normally mild mannered, but they can be unexpectedly aggressive
- Threat postures include a snort or guttural bellow with head up, mouth open, and tail erect
Bison are extremely athletic, powerful and potentially aggressive. How should they be handled?
- Working at ground level in sorting pens is not realistic when dealing with wild bison or untrained ranch or farmed bison
- Especially true when handling in a pen system without design features that allow for protection or escape of the handlger
- Best: protected walkways, in, around or above the system
- Gates should be manipulated remotely with pulleys, levers or hydraulics but never directly by hand
When should handling bison be avoided?
During the calving and breeding seasons if possible
- Bison cows are extremely protective of their calves
- Bison bulls are commonly aggressive during the breeding season
- Due to their remarkable physical abilities, bison will attempt to escape from a threat either through or over physical barriers that other species would not challenge
What are the 6 R’s of bison handling?
- Reducing the size of the group
- individual units best, otherwise 3-5 (odd # = can’t pair up) - Reduce the speed of the group being handled
- speed kills when handling bison
- they will run through you - Remember the “Ripple Effect”
- when 1 bison moves, the one adjacent to it will then move…and so on
- when ripples in the group collide, chaos ensues and means the groups is probably too big - Release Pressure
- enable bison to move away from handler
- as soon as they perceive they’re trapped, will try to escape through what is trapping them - Retreat
- when bison are crowding into corners and pushing each other; step back, it’s time for a “time out” for both handler and bison - Reward
- a high quality food reward set out in a paddock large enough for animals to be comfortable
How do you get bison to enter “paddock A”?
- Open the gate to paddock B
- very sensitive, want them to see a way through - Put bait (water or hay) in paddock B
- Bison will move to the far end of the pen, close the gate quickly bc they will try to return from the direction they came
- Ease of handling is a common culling criteria, especially for bulls
*Herd bulls will enter first
- dominant and more confident
- others will follow so they are not left behind
How do buffalo jumps work?
- get the herd moving fast
- don’t have the greatest sight or depth perception and can’t stop fast = don’t see the drop off until it’s too late
- traditional way of them being harvested on the plains
