American bison once roamed in tens of millions across North America before near-extinction. Their restoration to restored grasslands raises important welfare considerations about population management and habitat adequacy.
Bison welfare in conservation herds is shaped by habitat quality, herd social structure, and population management methods. Bison are inherently wide-ranging animals — small fenced reserves impose artificial population density that requires active management. Capture and relocation for population control causes significant acute stress including myopathy (capture myopathy) that can be fatal. Well-managed hunting programs with rapid clean kills cause less acute suffering than capture operations. Maintaining intact social family groups within conservation herds is important for the behavioral and social wellbeing of individual bison. Expanding habitat through corridor connections reduces management intensity required.