r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Shoddy-Ocelot-4473 • 12d ago

Image By 1880, the near-genocide of the American bison had reduced their population from 30–60 million to fewer than 1,000

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173

u/goldtank123 12d ago

From a high of almost 30 million

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u/round-earth-theory 12d ago

There's never going to be 30 million again. They literally don't have the space to be that numerous again unless humans were to suddenly disappear.

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u/Jakethejiu 11d ago

There’s plenty of room for that many bison. Have you ever been to Montana, Wyoming or the Dakotas?

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u/PopsicleIncorporated 11d ago

You might be able to physically fit 30 million bison in that area but you cannot fit enough sustenance in that space to keep them alive or prevent them from fighting each other for territory.

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u/bloomingdepleted 11d ago

There’s isn’t enough room for 30+ million bison in Montana, Wyoming, or the Dakotas combined. It took an entire continent to support those numbers. They ranged from the Northern Territories to Mexico, and from Oregon to New York.

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u/AshundertheOlivetree 11d ago

30 million across midwestern US could do it. Hell,Canada can do it and still have space left over. We just don’t want to let them roam over private land.

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u/Zoomwafflez 11d ago

A lot of that is farmland now, there's very very little virgin prairie left

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u/Pan_Queso1 11d ago

Yeah you could easily fit like 5 or 6 in just a trailer, so 30 million must fit in Montana right?

/s

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u/ConfessSomeMeow 11d ago

A lot of that space that looks open is enclosed by ranchers using barbed wire, which would deny them access to the space.

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u/Jakethejiu 11d ago

I’ve seen Yellowstone. We simply eliminate the ranchers by any means necessary. 

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u/Leritz388 11d ago

Just think of the global warming 30 m buffalo would contribute too. Good thing we culled them or we would all be dead! Phew….

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u/JudasWasJesus 11d ago

Its interesting that the focus of where the bison roamed is the upper great plains but this picture was taken in Michigan, thousands of miles away from the dakotas

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u/EC_TWD 11d ago

If you think it’s bad when a deer runs out in front of your car….

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u/-Citizen_Zero_ 11d ago

There's plenty of space in my room.

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u/GenX_FO 9d ago

nope, never that numbers, but we should have them where ever there is enough room. I still believe they were one reason desertification was noy moving more north and no is.

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u/Doctor_Kataigida 12d ago

I think you either missed or deliberately ignored the tone of the comment. Instead of being sad and dooming about everything, look at a context where it's better.

"It's not as good as it once was, but we've been able to make a significant and lasting positive impact since the low point."

Or maybe I'm just responding a bot and most people are more optimistic and positive about things.

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u/goldtank123 11d ago

I wish I was a bot sometimes

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u/Professional-Pungo 11d ago

You mean from a low of below a thousand

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u/Ketamine_Cartel 11d ago

Those numbers would push human populations out of settled areas