Years ago we rented snowmobiles and rode into Yellowstone in the middle of winter. As we were driving down a road we saw, headed towards us, a large herd of Buffalo. As we had been instructed, we turned off the snowmobiles and sat quietly without moving. The Bison drew nearer and nearer, determined to maintain their march on the road. As they got about five feet from us they began to split into narrowing lines and walked between us and on either side, brushing against us. They snorted and huffed and the warm air from their nostrils flowed out like smoke as it hit the frigid air. I could smell them, I could feel the heat from their breaths. They were huge and dwarfed even our machines. The scene continued for at least twenty long minutes until the last ones passed. In the silence of Yellowstone, in the dead of winter, a seemingly never ending sound of hooves on the packed snow, the grunts of the beasts, and the pounding of my own heart was all I could hear. It was the most beautiful and terrifying experience of my life.

One of my biggest hopes is to see Bison restored.

At first, it was somewhat disappointing that the pure genetic bison did not technically exist until some perspective was given about the human Gnome contained more neanderthal dna than the bison contained cattle dna.

Just proves that discrimination exists everywhere even with bison. The fact is that if a cow had escaped a herd and been adopted by a herd of bison this genome could have been created naturally. This is why nature is untamed

I have more neanderthal blood in me than these bison have cow DNA. So does it matter? They're big, they're beautiful, they still roam around. Our neighbor had two buffalo cows. One time, they got out and wandered into my brother's place. They came up to the pickup and one stuck her head in the window and licked me. It was pretty cool. Years later, he only had one left, and she was in a pasture in the mountains and we'd go give her hay if it was snowy. Wonderful, magical animal.

Thank you. I was completely enthralled.

If the 0.24% of cattle DNA saved the entre blood line of such a magnificent animal, then they should count it as a blessing not denigrate the survivors. Nature will always find a way if left in peace, a little cross breeding has probably strengthened  the herd, main thing  is they are still here and not extinct.

The reason there were so few Bison left is they were the main food source of the Indian nations. Remove their food and you starve them to nothing.

The fact that bison and domestic cattle can successfully cross breed tells me that both are actually the same species, just as great Danes a chihuahua are. If all we had was fossil evidence of the two breeds scientists would confidentially proclaim that they are different species.   We really need to re-think what a species is.

What a world we live in: Worried about 0.24 % "impurity" in Bison but declaring a 98 % grey wolf hybrid as the return of the "Dire Wolf".

Hybridization was openly practiced in the late 1800s, and the private herds Yellowstone bought from in 1902 included known cattle–bison crosses. With the entire modern population descending from those same mixed founder herds, small traces of cattle DNA were always the expected outcome. The new test didn’t reveal a mystery — it just measured what basic history and genetics already predicted.

Amazing 😊😊

I think that it should be possible to sequence pure Bison DNA from many of the trophies that were taken by hunters or that were stuffed and placed in museums.  Even if we don't have the technology to do it yet, it should be possible to take a fertilized Bison ovum and replace the DNA with DNA taken from Bison killed in the 19th Century.  That's got to be easier than deextincting a Woolly Mammoth.  At the very least, that might be a way to introduce more genetic diversity into Bison herds.

Interesting.  I was always under the impression that the bison on the  National Bison Range were the most genetically pure.

Very interesting!!!

We had a cross between bison and Holstein and semimetal and that bull threw off some of the best calf’s we ever had

If it looks like a duck and acts like a duck...Then its a duck!  lol

Apparently the cross breeding hasn't affected their attitude

Subbed!

The originals came from Charles Goodnight.