Commercial bison ranching has grown as consumer interest in alternative proteins increases. Bison retain strong wild behavioral tendencies that create specific welfare challenges in ranching systems.
Bison retain much of their wild behavioral repertoire and respond to human presence and handling with high stress. Routine husbandry procedures require specialized low-stress handling facilities — traditional cattle-handling equipment causes injury and extreme fear responses in bison. Long transport distances to processing facilities are particularly stressful for these animals. The large territories bison occupy naturally cannot be replicated in commercial ranching, but pasture-based systems allow more natural grazing and social behavior than feedlot systems.