buffalo (North American)

Common name of the North American bison, a large brown hoofed mammal of the bovine (cattle) family, with a heavy mane and sloping hindquarters. Buffalo roamed the Great Plains of the USA in herds of millions until their virtual extinction by American hunters in the 1870s and 1880s, when less than a hundred animals remained. The animals were the main source of the food and materials that supported the way of life of the Plains Indians, and their destruction made the Indians unable to sustain their battle against American settlement of their lands. Buffalo now survive in protected reservations, where their population reached an estimated 14,000 in 1994.