|
Antelope Island in Great Salt Lake, Utah, is part of Antelope Island State Park. On the island, a semi–free-ranging population of American bison (''Bison bison, ''buffalo) has been in existence since 1893. Though the island was named for the pronghorn antelope that John C. Frémont and Kit Carson found there when they explored the Great Salt Lake, bison were later introduced and the island is now perhaps most famous for its bison herd. The Antelope Island bison herd is significant because it is one of the largest and oldest publicly owned bison herds in the nation.〔http://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/antelope-island/roundup〕 It is one of the two bison herds managed by the State of Utah, the other being the Henry Mountains bison herd. The Antelope Island bison herd currently numbers between 550 and 700 individuals. Other large free-ranging, publicly controlled herds of bison in the United States include the Yellowstone Park bison herd (3,500 bison), the herd in Custer State Park, South Dakota (1,300 bison),〔http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/custer/〕 the Henry Mountains bison herd in south-central Utah (300 to 500 animals), the herd at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota (350 bison), and the 400-strong National Bison Range Herd near Flathead Lake, Montana. In addition, though the bison on Antelope Island are Prairie bison, which was the most common bison subspecies in North America, the bison have a distinct genetic heritage from many of the other bison herds in the United States and they are considered to be desirable as part of the breeding and foundation stock for other bison herds, because of their separate genetic heritage and some of the distinct genetic markers that are found in the population. Buffalo watching is one of the most popular activities on Antelope Island. In fact, the island is perhaps best known for the bison that inhabit it, and the bison are generally easily found and observed.〔http://www.utah.com/schmerker/1999/bison.htm〕 ==Location and habitat== The herd is present on, and confined to, Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. Bison may occur almost anywhere on the island, including the northern end near the causeway, but most of them tend to congregate on the east side near the Fielding Garr Ranch. American bison (''Bison bison bison'') historically have lived in river valleys, and on prairies and plains. Typical habitat is open or semi-open grasslands, as well as sagebrush, semi-arid lands and scrublands. Some lightly wooded areas are also known historically to have supported bison. Bison will also graze in hilly or mountainous areas where the slopes are not steep. Though not commonly thought of as high altitude animals, bison in the Yellowstone Park bison herd are frequently found at elevations above 8,000 feet. Animals from the Henry Mountains bison herd are found on the plains around the Henry Mountains, Utah, as well as in mountain valleys of the Henry Mountains to an altitude of 10,000 feet. Bison historically lived in the high mountain "parks" of Colorado (e.g.South Park (Colorado basin)) which are at elevations of approximately 10,000 feet. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science includes a diorama depicting bison in this setting and the original specimen was collected from Lost Park, Colorado in 1887.〔http://volunteers.dmns.org/media/2191/semuseumhistoryanddioramaguide.pdf〕 There are no river valleys on Antelope Island, though there are some springs and some relatively flat to gently sloping plains, rising into mountains along the central spine of the island. Antelope Island sits at an elevation of approximately 4,300 feet above sea level with peaks to 6,500 feet. This is similar to the high plains of Colorado and Wyoming. Though bison in the park will wander over most of this range, they tend to stay more in the lower and flatter grassy areas of the Antelope Island State Park. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Antelope Island bison herd」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|