Why did the bison die off?

Answer 1

The two main causes of the near-extinction of the bison were 1. Habitat loss from ranching and farming, and 2. Commercial hunting.

Answer 2

The demand for their hides for clothing, factory belts and many other things was sky-high, so much so that they were deliberately hunted and killed by white men for their hides, though some say nowadays that they were killed "for fun." It may have also been a means to defeat the Plains Indians in the conquest for white settlers to take over the land, which the Indians themselves strongly opposed and fought against. What better way to bring these great warriors to their knees than to take away the very source of food, clothing and shelter they depend on?

These buffalo (now known as Bison instead) were shot and killed by the millions by ex-Civil War vets from trains, horse-back, outcrops in the rocks, etc., anywhere that would give them a good line of fire to take out more than one animal at a time. The buffalo were literally reduced from herds numbering in the millions, to only a handful of animals. Only the hides were taken from these animals. The rest of the carcass was left to waste. Even the Indians wouldn't eat the skinned and rotting carcass. The few survivors that learned to fear the white man and the sound of his guns were chased north of the border into Canada where they were made to be protected by the Canadian government from further extermination. Even if the government didn't protect them, the numbers were so few that they wouldn't have counted for much of anything in the first place because by the time hunters would have found them, the demand for their hides would have reduced significantly enough that it wouldn't bring top-dollar anymore for them.

The small numbers that didn't make it into Canada moved into the oldest National Park in North America, founded in 1872: Yellowstone. There, the handful of bison that remained were protected from the white hunters and were able to slowly propogate themselves again into what is now a population that numbers in over 2000 to 4000 animals.

Answer 3

The demand for buffalo hides back east was very high, so high that the bison population couldn't, nor would ever repopulate itself to continue to meet this demand. Bison herds were also wiped out also to weaken the strength of the Plains Indians that strongly opposed the white settlers coming on and literally taking over their land that they have since lived and existed on for thousands of years.

Answer 4

Demand for their hides back East was much higher than what the bison could do to repopulate their numbers. It was also a means to make the Plains Indians surrender much sooner to the Union armies of the USA government and without much fighting and put them in designated treaties so that the white settlers could take over and "tame" the land.

Answer 5

Very simple, overhunting, Many hunters were sent to destroy the herds, because native tribes depended on them for food and clothing,even shelter. This was thought a way to bring the hostile tribes to their knees, and it worked. The last 1000 or so animals were preserved, and now roam in the tens of thousands, mostly in National parks.

Answer 6

The Bison started to die off because of the white settlers came. They were at war with the Indians so the started killing the bison. Some even killed the bison for game!

Answer 7

Because the people killed the buffalo for very little and threw most of the buffalo meat away. Also a long time ago the Indians used them for ALOT of things!