Surprising Facts About Buffalo | The American Buffalo | A Film by Ken Burns | PBS

Official website: to.pbs.org/buf... | #AmericanBuffaloPBS
Did you know a buffalo can jump over a six-foot fence? Or hit running speeds of 35 miles per hour? These animals may look strange and slow, but they’re a souped-up hotrod of an animal hiding in a minivan shell. They were also driven nearly to extinction - but that’s only the beginning.
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#kenburns #buffalo
More about THE AMERICAN BUFFALO
For thousands of generations, buffalo (species bison bison) have evolved alongside Indigenous people who relied on them for food and shelter, and, in exchange for killing them, revered the animal. The stories of Native people anchor the series, including the Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne of the Southern Plains; the Lakota, Salish, Kootenai, Mandan-Hidatsa, and Blackfeet from the Northern Plains; and others.
Numbering an estimated 30 million in the early 1800s, the herds began declining for a variety of reasons, including the lucrative buffalo robe trade, the steady westward settlement of an expanding United States, diseases introduced by domestic cattle, and drought. But the arrival of the railroads in the early 1870s, and a new demand for buffalo hides to be used in the belts driving industrial machines back East, brought thousands of hide hunters to the Great Plains. In just over a decade the number of bison collapsed from 12-15 million to fewer than a thousand, representing one of the most dramatic examples of our ability to destroy the natural world. By 1900, the American buffalo teetered on the brink of disappearing forever, and Native people of the Plains entered one of the most traumatic moments of their existence.

[@PBS]

Is it 'Buffalo' or 'Bison'? 🦬Turns out, it's both: www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-buffalo/is-it-bison-or-buffalo

[@alastairgreen2077]

No, it's not. It's a bison.

[@georgesheffield1580]

Bison .

[@maxbarko8717]

Of course it’s a bison not a buffalo. The first settlers didn’t know some of the wildlife and named them incorrectly, like elk which actually is wapiti and moose which is elk.

[@danielhooke6115]

No, poor americanski, is a "bison". 👎 #Bison

[@mijreklaw3051]

Seems narcissistic to use one of your own sources to prove your point.

[@kaioiamo1503]

Our? Always shocks me when Europeans want to come to africa to preserve wild life when every time they have contact with any they decimate the population in one generation. Colonizing continues to destroy humanity. Awful what the colonizers did to the buffalo.

[@someguy2135]

I agree. Here is a fascinating video comparing the American Bison (aka buffalo) to the cattle that replaced them (other than the small pockets of survivors.) It also covers the effect on the American prairie. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4OtfmCmm7SirZY

[@SunderBlue22]

You can’t start a video called buffalo facts when the fact is it’s a Bison!!! R u kidding me….

[@DanielJames-wz3hd]

Please protects these magnificent creatures

[@michelesfo7799]

As a small girl, my grandmother opened the Buffalo paddock located in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. She'd call out to them, hand me dried bread, and told me to not curl my fingers as I fed the Buffalo. My grandmother ran the little farm nearby. I can still smell the grassy breath of those Buffalos so long ago.

[@the_OriginalGamester]

Amazing

[@jamesinaustin7358]

I grew up near Pioneers Park in Lincoln, Nebraska, which had a small bison herd. One evening at dusk I was watching the group of maybe 10 animals. They started dancing and getting agitated. Then they raced from one end of the pasture to the other in a herd. It was amazing how quick they were. I can't imagine what it must have looked like for a half million of them to race across the long grass prairie before everything was fenced and farmed, but it must have been one of the most amazing sights on earth.

[@rodscarbrough2337]

I wouldn't want to get in their way.

[@kidmohair8151]

in the first 10 seconds, that guy saying, "this magnificent animal, and they're *our* animal"... did he even think before he said that? our colonizing ancestors, mine and his, looked at the buffalo and said, "it has to go", to make way for our wheat fields and stockyards and fences... the only people who can lay claim to the buffalo without hypocrisy, are the native Americans.

[@Lmaxk007]

🙏

[@annabrown7302]

LOVE AND RESPECT THIS BUFFALO❤

[@rscott2247]

The thing I heard about the Buffalo/Bison is that unlike cows, they have the ability to dig through snow to eat grass in the winter.

[@johnrivera922]

Loved it. Can’t wait to watch the whole thing. As a Hispanic male who grew up white/American, is nice to see my peoples history being told for a change. Thank you.

[@keza3250]

The ancestors of European people's lived with bison in Europe and Eurasia a lot longer then 10 to 20 thousand years ha ha neanderthal and cromagnone man Hunted them probably for 100 000years or more

[@EastEZ82]

Shout out to my natives who always respect and lifted up everything under the sun and above it.

[@heightsofsagarmatha]

Except the ones who murdered and pillaged other tribes. Doesn't fit with the liberal narrative but it happened

[@genewest8426]

Peter Coyote has the best narrative voice in documentaries.

[@blakespower]

I tried watching it but all it seemed to talk about was Humans, very little on the actual Bison

[@davidsanders7211]

The Buffalo is really outstanding animals full grow 1 ton remarkable creatures. Must be great to see them in person.😊

[@maryjomayfield537]

Apparently the animal we have been calling a Buffalo is not really a Buffalo but is in fact a Bison and that Buffalo are not native to America but to Africa.

[@oakmaiden2133]

Dear Ken Burns, I want a doc on the history and long term effect of open ranging cattle in America. It is directly connected to the eradication of the bison and erosion of wayerways.

[@someguy2135]

I wholeheartedly agree! Here is a fascinating video comparing the American Bison (aka buffalo) to the cattle that replaced them (other than the small pockets of survivors.) It also covers the effect on the American prairie. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4OtfmCmm7SirZY

[@Catlady77777]

Let's not forget the eradication of wild horse herds.

[@thomasfoss9963]

In my studies, eliminating the bison wreecked havoc on the plains flora, eventually changing the dynamics of the soil structure-- Native grasses, and plants flourished over thousands of years, supporting a wide range of wildlife including birds, and various mammals-- When cattle were introduced, some non native grasses were then planted to support them, since their cows didn't prefer some of the course prairie grass that the bison ate---- Some of these non-native grasses have contributed to the more intense wildfires we are seeing today in California, and in various pockets of the West----

[@compton1808]

Don't forget the slaughter of bison on the plains when the white man was building railroads, by the tens of thousands.

[@obtuseangler768]

​​@@Catlady77777​ hundreds of Nations didn't worship regalia and beat drums out of horsehides though. I'm not intending to imply that wild horses aren't magnificent and greatly missed, however, they do not have the cultural significance the buffalo does in North America.

[@christopherpett3264]

For the Native Americans the loss of the Buffalo was a Lost Universe.

[@ge2623]

An early form of intentional genocide by a government policy. Sick.

[@marthabunting2833]

Correct native americans thanked the animal for its life when they killed the animal.

[@heightsofsagarmatha]

​@marthabunting2833 not really, liberals have a propagandized take on history.

[@roberthevern6169]

Love Peter Coyote's unmistakable voice!

[@adamhuffman3354]

He does have the most perfect voice

[@lennarthagen3638]

Trump supporter

[@jo8726t]

I was disappointed in this film. I think Ken could of put all the info into a couple of hours. The first episode was the same point reapeated over and over. I stopped watching it but buffalo are a amazing, beautiful animals.

[@thebakk34]

I can't help but watch anything related to American Bison with a big smile on my face! They're my absolute favorite indigenous animal. I also recognized Ol' Steve Rinella's voice right away,

[@VunderGuy]

American Buffalo.

[@Svensk7119]

Love that they had Steven Rinella. Peter Coyote is the narrator! Excellent!!

[@mortalclown3812]

I expect his voice in the afterlife. 😂

[@Svensk7119]

@@mortalclown3812 Well said.

[@Laserblade]

Thank you PBS! Pound for pound, the strongest animal on Earth. I will be sure to watch the entire video.

[@EireHammer]

The big African four have a question for you?🤣

[@josephdonais4778]

Buffalo are as much "ours" as is vanity.

[@perspellman]

I have tried continously to find and play the film on PBS' page, where it's set to be available either on iTunes or Amazon, but again it's not. Where can I stream The American Buffalo? I'm thankfull for a direct funtional link.

[@andersonic]

"Buffalo" just feels like the right name for these bison, even if you know what true Asian and African buffalos look like. The word affectionately evokes their shaggy coats and girth and range. Like why a furry elephant would be called Snuffleupagus.

[@gihankanishka]

"our animal" that you almost wiped out 0:08

[@PuFFerTV98368]

I thought the same thing ✌️

[@volkoff6357]

There is no one alive today who is responsible for what happened over a hundred years ago. Hating someone for something their ancestors did is the definition of ignorance and racism.

[@Lmaxk007]

​@@volkoff6357right except for ancestral karma 😂

[@rodroper211]

rule #1 "don't pet the fluffy cows"

[@willfrey7589]

It's as awesome as I thought would be. Thank you, Ken.

[@nashtrojan]

The animal's name is the American BISON the freaking scientific name is Bison Bison... that is family and species.

[@Robert-hp4ul]

Great program. Only one glaring error. One talking head said, “Their main defense mechanism is to run away.” Buffalo are afraid of nothing. Buffalo not being smart wolves can sometimes slyly panic a herd with calves to break their defense ring and stampede allowing calves, sick, injured to be killed. Never mind wolves Google buffalo/bison grizzly bear and watch a bevy of videos of bull buffalo or mature females run off a grizzly bear no problem. It’s a problem for the grizzly if they’re caught though. They soon have a few new orifices.

[@WAVEGURU]

No mention of their wings?

[@richardc6269]

I was struck only 30sec in. This is "our" animal. This kind of thinking is what's wrong with our species.

[@rppvt]

I love the relationship between the prairie dog and the bison. I do hope they touch on that in this series.

[@VunderGuy]

Buffalo.

[@frankgrabasse4642]

Gophers

[@horacio-ho3bf]

​@@frankgrabasse4642gophers are not prarie dogs are not ground squirrels

[@horacio-ho3bf]

And the black footed ferrets

[@1mourningdove54]

I can't wait to watch the entire series. Thank you Ken Burns for another story about our nation.

[@davidcooke8005]

Long ago I was at Old Faithful at dawn to see the geyser. Had the place to myself. They have a wooden walkway around it, and inside the walkway are loads of 'Stay off the grass' signs. Right next to a sign was a magnificent buffalo. I got as close as I dared, and got the pic. Like who is going to tell HIM he can't be on the grass? Not me.

[@jcclark2060]

They are Bison NOT buffalo!

[@msa4548]

They are bison, not buffalo.

[@coolbananaboy5075]

Funny how the title is "Surprising Facts ..." but the majority of the video is about feeling, spirit, and general vague info.

[@JustAThought155]

Great subject matter. And Ken Burns is definitely one of my absolute favorite documentary writers. However, as this series advanced, via my PBS account, I tried to watch this documentary, entirely, but simply could not. Two days. Three attempts. I can’t watch it. All attempts stopped as I saw the destruction the non-native American populations leveled upon those animals in exchange for dollars. Absolutely heartbreaking for this American viewer.

[@adriennegormley9358]

One of the things I was taught growing up is their unpredictability. I know that the massive herds before they were decimated could, and did, derail trains. As we lived within Sunday picnic distance of Yellowstone, this was the sort of things our parents drilled into our heads. They are magnificent beasts that we were taught to respect.

[@garryferrington811]

They weren't decimated, they were nearly eradicated.

[@gl15col]

I saw a short video of one of the Native American buffalo herds, and one ancient bull was cut out of the herd to provide meat for the people. It ran away, up and down hills tossing it's head and capering, until it came to the top of a hill. And then it stood still, watching the approaching hunters as if deciding to give itself to them. It was a deeply spiritual feeling...

[@tomthx5804]

Yeah, sure.

[@196cupcake]

Obviously, keep your distance if you one in the wild, but they're pretty cool to see up close.

[@derrickrichins5747]

Bison. Buffalo live in Africa and India and are a completely different kind of ruminant

[@huskydogable]

No kidding!

[@Rex-o9t]

If some of you did not know this, long ago, humans imported buffalo to Catalina Island off the coast of California. Buffalo Rome, free out there and it is amazing to see.

[@Mbartel500]

A buffalo and a bison are two distinctly different animals. There are no American buffaloes. Those animals are bison, not buffaloes.

[@user-sg8kq7ii3y]

Yes, But it is acceptable to use the term "buffalo".

[@Mbartel500]

@@user-sg8kq7ii3y so you think it is ok to call a fox a wolf? Or a leopard a jaguar? What if your name was Mark, and people called you Bill? A bison and a buffalo are two different species of animal. Try to keep up….

[@user-sg8kq7ii3y]

@@Mbartel500 I understand what you're saying, but it's still acceptable to call bison "buffalo". Even experts and Native Americans themselves call it "buffalo", but they all know the proper terms. Read the book "Blood Memory". It explains the two terms in great detail, and explains they're common usage. So it's great if you want to use the term "bison". It's the term that I use. But I also know what people are referring to when they say "buffalo". It's like how Americans call the NFL "football", when players rarely use their feet, and they call actual football "soccer". Yes, it does not make sense, but, whether you like it or not, that's the language that's used. So just relax and chill out. It's NOT THAT serious of a deal.

[@RichardGeiszler]

Bison, if startled, will even charge an automobile. People thinking they are big fuzzy cows often find out the hard way. Respecting the bison as wild animals was taught to me during early family trips to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in SW Oklahoma.

[@laara1426]

According to Smithsonian Zoo and orher verified sources BUFFALO and BISON are NOT the same animal. Geez... correct this. America doesnt need another gross generalization.

[@josephinekush5056]

There's no such creature as the "American buffalo". There are bison, both North American & European (Wisent) but the animals do not belong to the United States of America alone. I watched the first episode, terrible. Poorly researched & written. Even the history of the Indigenous peoples are wrongly portrayed. Really bad stuff, but most viewers are ignorant of the facts, so Burns will be applauded. Personally, I was offended when representatives of our Indigenous people stated we have been on this land for a mere 12,000 years when the reality is far different.

[@heightsofsagarmatha]

It's liberal propaganda paid for with our tax dollars

[@iSeaUnplugged]

If you think their so great why are we fencing more and more why are we so hung up on dam cattle

[@gophersk]

If it weren't for Canadians the Bison/Buffalo would be extinct. They preserved the blood line in northern Alberta. The herds were brought back, a few at a time to the United States. The Bison is not the "American Bison" it is the North American Bison.

[@griggbaylee5808]

Wainwright Alberta 🇨🇦

[@user-sg8kq7ii3y]

If it weren't for the white man, bison would have never been in danger to begin with. Same for grizzly bears

[@bobstuart2638]

Not much about Buffalo here, and nothing at all about how Native American history on the plains was revolutionized by horses being re-introduced. I'd rather hear about how the grasses co-evolved with huge herds passing through between five year recovery periods,

[@Mrmidknight-yx9pg]

I just like it when the bison go hem

[@iSeaUnplugged]

That was disappointing i thought it be something about the animal not people who are crushing this environment and we’ll be lucky to last 12000 more years, in Alberta they shot they from the trains and just left them.

[@JohnDauffenbach]

Realtors killed the bison for the land😢.

[@laara1426]

Those are not Buffalo. They are Bison.

[@pierrevincent9568]

"bison and humans coevolved over the last 10k years or so" so? coexisting life forms co-evolved over the last 4 billion years or so!

[@ErelasInglor]

Got to love how the most absurd misnomer for North American Bison continues to this day due to poor misunderstanding and mislabeling in the past. Buffalo are a completely different species. It's like calling a Swift Fox a Jackal. Europe has no issue with colloquial misnomers around their European Bison.

[@loub1105]

Buffalo Facts - THEY ARE NOT BUFFALO! THEY ARE BISON!

[@CAwolfguy]

BISON!! NOT buffalo.

[@ronrogers5045]

Fact 1: they are called Bison

[@Quanic2000]

NOW the Buffalo is "yours"? They belonged to the Native Americans. So much so that when you wanted to break the moral of the Native Americans, you hunted the Bison into near extinction.

[@christopherpett3264]

Bison existed in America before humans. Humans had to adapt toward them to survive.

[@johnleos1687]

Surprised you got your facts wrong! 🤔 Common names are NOT a correct name! If everyone calls you $tupid that doesn't make it your name! 😲😂😆😃 No such animal as "American Buffalo" 😲 Bison 🦬 the animal's name is Bison! 🇺🇸 No buffalo nickels too! 😂😆😃

[@kenneth9874]

Sorry sucker, we'll call them what we want.

[@dannypope1860]

Sooo much misinformation here.

[@petertuckergoettler5720]

Interesting To Note, merci.

[@loricharpentier1654]

They are awesome looking. ❤

[@iSeaUnplugged]

It’s our its our too much their not yours

[@carlgomm9699]

I love Ken Burns movies, hope to see lots more like this !!

[@richardeast3328]

The Darwin tribe said the bison came from the primeval ooze.

[@libertyvilleguy2903]

Proper description is bison, not Buffalo.

[@Uchetysx5]

Bison. You should know this.

[@peaceandlove5214]

Are Buffalo bulls dangerous like bulls of cattle?

[@rhvoriginals3083]

There are no buffalo in America. What we call buffalo are actually bison. There are no American buffalo!!! Shame on you PBS. Buffalo Bill, was actually Bison Bill. Buffalo and bison, though of the same family, have very little in common.

[@MakerBoyOldBoy]

The first European contact with our bison was with Spanish conquistadores who being younger children and thus not inheriting anything at home saw the masses of bison as a gift resource. Each saw themselves as Dons of limitless ranches with endless bison taking the place of cattle. A round up was the first order of business to start their empires. As a large group they began their round up and immediately each proto-Don encountered the fight of their young lives as the ill-tempered bison violently attacked each horse and rider. The account doesn't list the number of injured and dead. But the encounter was decisive.

[@altraveller]

Fun Fact: Peter Coyote narrates my life

[@sandyMlud]

😂😂 so true. 😂😂

[@SonomaBill1]

Peter lives in a community about ten miles away from me. He sends us regular updates on what is on his mind in the letters to the editor section of our local newspaper . . . . :-)

[@t.texastimmy1022]

I Think that it's funny that he changed his name .....

[@ronbelanger4113]

Long as they avoid those Bison from the north! LOL

[@frankhoffman3566]

I think she meant the Lewis & Clarke expedition was 15 SECONDS before midnight.

[@revolutionaryhamburger]

Back in the early days of westward expansion by American bureaucrats, there was a politically powerful 19th Century version of an AOC type from New York City elected to high official position in the federal government. While this woman was living large in Washington, D.C., she professed a bizarre belief humanity was doomed to suffocate due to bad air. She became obsessed with the Great Plains problem which she infamously boiled down to be billions of bursts of bison flatulence. This pioneering politician was convinced by the moneyed interests of Big Whale Oil that unregulated ungulate bison population out West was clogging up the clouds with their bovine backside emissions. So, after shutting down all opposition, she successfully lobbied Congress to send disgraced Civil War Gen Algore out West with an army, unlimited ammo and orders to clear the air by eradicating the wooly brutes with extreme prejudice. The rest is history.

[@jorgebraz474]

With my best greetings and Thanks Wopila Tanka ❤😶👍

[@EireHammer]

From Ken Burns and PBS this is a terribly researched video and that gives me little hope for the full product. Buffalo...why keep spreading the ignorant myth?!?

[@stevep5408]

Bison evolved 2.6 million years ago. What are they talking about bison evolved always being hunted by man? The bison evolved at least a million years before hominids evolved. What hunting are you talking about? That's impossible!

[@roundrock63]

30-60 million buffalo roamed the plains. I wonder if the contributed to climate Change with eating the grass and flatulence.

[@garystursa1353]

I believe America should do everything possible to preserve the buffalo, I live in Oklahoma, have seen buffalo wallows, there are numerous opportunities to view buffalo here

[@ChrisLaprise-p8n]

I loved this documentary.

[@terriejohnston8801]

Was SO excited that the ORIGINAL BISON HERD....THAT WAS NEARLY WIPED OUT....WERE MIRACULOUSLY PRESERVED. HOW? BY SOME VERY DEVOTED FOLKs....the original (dna) Buffalo herd were bred ...& eventually released back into the wild. Check out the story online. A celebration by these folks who worked so hard & smart to preserve The American Bison.

[@jameseastwood3847]

I thought buffalo was a European misnomer and bison was the right term. They are magnificent.

[@Rex-o9t]

If some of you did not know this, long ago, humans imported buffalo to Catalina Island off the coast of California. Buffalo Rome, free out there and it is amazing to see.

[@butchbinion1560]

Thanks. 👊🏼✌🏻

[@amthinking-p9n]

I think reflect from the past, some people went arrogant in the relationships with the other creatures and even the nature, I think the human civilization have been growing and improving, in the past, human beings compete with some other creatures, then human beings can raise some creatures so some creatures feel grateful about the raising they chose to sacrifice themselves to feed and serve the human beings who raised them, the animals die from feeling grateful I think, the human beings ate and created from them by feeling deserved I think, maybe there will be more and better relationships between human beings and animals in the developing of human civilization…

[@huitzilinf_art]

I wasn't expecting Steven but it is a welcome surprise

[@timothynechville8326]

You people dont know enough to make this film

[@guppygrease9767]

Follow the grass to the other side, momma folk flok on mass! Nation Eat at Joe's sign people thing for people to shate. Life spread in passage.

[@elizabethhasse6088]

It is NOT a Buffalo, this majestic animal is the American BISON.

[@beverlykovic8563]

would like to watch this but the competing music is enough to drive anyone crazy

[@littlepony6762]

Bison

[@standingbear998]

I do not believe an adult can jump a 6 ft fence. I have seen many run, most animals are faster than people think.

[@F350-k8r]

Co-evolved please check DNA of American Indian time line.

[@alanmctavish3628]

The natives of Western Canada lost 2 inches in height after the bison disappeared.

[@T410ce]

Really, what is your source for this and why would this be? Surely they received nutrition elsewhere…

[@brucesteele3052]

Bad news. Javelina are not pigs nor are bison buffalo. They are not one and the same.