American bison were reduced from 30–60 million animals to fewer than 1,000 by 1889. While conservation has succeeded in recovering numbers, welfare challenges remain in managed herds and wild populations.
Bison welfare spans two distinct contexts: managed commercial herds and wild or semi-wild conservation herds. Commercial bison are generally raised under less intensive conditions than cattle but may lack the space, social complexity, and environmental diversity needed for full behavioural expression. Wild population welfare is primarily affected by brucellosis management — which involves capturing, testing, and culling reactive animals — and by the limited range available outside Yellowstone due to livestock conflict concerns. Habitat expansion, reducing the reliance on culling as a disease management tool, and supporting tribal bison restoration programmes that maintain traditional ecological relationships are the primary welfare and conservation priorities.