Females, or cows, are smaller and weigh about 900 pounds when grown. A newborn bison is called a calf. Bison calves are yellowish-red and are normally born in the spring. Bison are social animals and live in herds. They help defend each other from predators.
Bison are famous for traveling in large herds across the plains in a stampede.
Bison herds once ranged from the Appalachian Mountains in the East to the Rocky Mountains in the West. By the late 1800s, only about 500 bison remained in America. Market demands had reduced their numbers from millions. Many of the last free-roaming bison were provided a place to live with the creation of the National Bison Range in western Montana. Today bison can be seen in many national parks, refuges and on private farms across America.