The word bison comes from the German name for this animal, Wisent. Eventually they roamed across the Bering Land Bridge into North America. Fossils of bison in the United States have been dated to approximately 50,000 years ago. Sometimes these animals are called buffalo, but that is not correct. Buffalo are long horned animals of burden found in Africa and Asia, such as the common water buffalo.
Bison are larger, more massive with short upward curving horns.
Bison are not domestic, in the sense that cattle are domestic. In the winter they can use their massive shoulders to plow through the snow to expose the vegetation beneath it. To maintain healthy herds, on ranches they are usually fed hay in the winter to ensure a proper and adequate diet. They are not fed special diets to enhance the meat at slaughter time, although some bison farms do this. Bison live to an age of 40 to 50.