By: Kyrie Sismaet By: Kyrie Sismaet | August 29, 2022 | Lifestyle, Travel & Recreation, Story, City Life, Culture, Neighborhoods, Travel, Entertainment, Local, Community,
San Francisco is full of delightful surprises, mysteries, and storied history, with many located right in our expansive Golden Gate Park. A long-asked question on this park stems from an unusually cute and fluffly sight- our own resident park bison.
Gently roaming the park's paddock, many either had no idea these peaceful creatures thrive at the park or are curious as to how and we have them, and we've got all the heavy answers.
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Bison are large bovines in the genus Bison, recognizable by their thick coats, sturdy figure, and majestic horns. While many of its species are extinct, there are only now two surviving extant species, with the more numerous one being the B. bison, or American bison.
This species was facing extinction in the 1800s from relentless mass hunting and slaughtering for their meat and hides, and it was Golden Gate Park that became the chosen haven to repopulate them after their numbers quickly dropped from millions to less than 100.
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The first bison, named Ben Harrison from a Kansas conservationist ranch, arrived to the vast green expanse in 1891 by then-Superintendent John McLaren in an attempt to both preserve and revive the species and to bring some of the Wild West to the west coast minus the violence.
After one female named Sarah Bernhardt was also introduced, the captive-breeding program eventually flourished over 100 calves.
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The bison roamed free throughout the tranquil park, notably where the popular tourist destination of the Music Concourse now thrives (guess the bison had good taste). When the San Francisco Zoo was unveiled in 1930, they oversaw this program, creating the iconic paddock on the western end and eventually curtailing the program in 1998 when the over 500 bison here contributed to North America's overall total of over 200,000.
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Today, to avoid breeding and to maintain a sizable group, all of the five bison that remain are female, named Bambi, Buttercup, Betsy, Bailey, and Bellatrix. Most recently in 2020, the serene paddock became home to five more new female calves to honor the park's 150th anniversary.
You can encounter these gentle giants grazing or lounging about just off of John F. Kennedy Drive in the northwestern end of the stretch between 36 Avenue and Chain of Lakes Drive. There is also a live stream of the herd thoughtfully available to view.
If you happen to be curious as to how to detect a bison's mood, check their tail, as the more the tail is raised, the more they feel alarmed, excited, or nervous, though you'll most likely just see them calmly relaxed and blissfully at peace.
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Our magnificent bison remain as living artifacts of our valiant efforts both as a city, and as humans, to preserve and care for nature's delicately finite beauty.
Our park wouldn't be the same without these lovely furry residents, becoming legendary mainstays of the park that help to supplement our tourism, charm, and natural beauty.
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Photography by: Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group