Bison returns to Coahuila after 100 years

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The recent snowfalls in Coahuila give us this beautiful postcard. After 100 years of extinction in the region, the American bison already runs freely across the plain.

After more than a hundred years of absence, the American bison returns to Coahuila and already lives free in the plains. Barely in 2020, the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas managed to establish a second herd of these beautiful animals.

The American bison of the plains, whose scientific name is  Bison bison, is the largest land mammal on the American continent. Formerly the habitat of the bison included Mexico, the United States, and Canada. His presence was of utmost importance for the original peoples of the north, who integrated him into their worldview.

Organizations such as the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (Conanp) estimated that a couple of centuries ago the world population of bison was 30 million. Unfortunately,  the hand of the human being intervened and at the beginning of the 20th century, there were only about 1,000 specimens. Among the main causes of what could be their extinction are hunting, diseases, and destruction of the grasslands in which they inhabited.

The case of Mexico was even more acute. The states of  Coahuila,  Chihuahua,  Sonora,  Nuevo León,  and  Durango were once sanctuaries for the American bison.

bison

However, in the middle of the 19th century, it was extinct in Mexico. Some years ago, various government bodies,  universities, civil society, international organizations, and private companies decided to return the bison to this region.

For this, the United States National Park Service donated 23 bison. Eleven years ago the Janos Biosphere Reserve in  Chihuahua received the specimens, which were reproduced and currently number 200 individuals. Now it is the turn of  Coahuila, which has received 19 specimens of American bison to repopulate the region.

Source: mexicodesconocido.com.mx

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