Critters like pandas, bald eagles, buffalo and others who were going extinct have made a comeback, thanks to scientific research and laws for their protection
If you’ve ever been to a zoo, you might have seen buffalo. The buffalo is one of the greatest comeback critters in the world. The Bronx Zoo in New York played an important role in saving the buffalo, also known as the American Bison, from extinction.
By the early 1900s, buffalo had been hunted down until almost none were left. A few survivors were collected for protection at the Bronx Zoo, and later were moved to the western plains states where they were allowed to breed again. This saved the species from extinction, and today thousands of them roam the wild.
The man who deserves most credit for it was the first director of the Bronx Zoo, William Temple Hornaday. Not that Hornaday started out to save the buffalo. Just the opposite.
In 1866, he went out to Montana for what he called “The Last Buffalo Hunt.” The vast, thundering herds of buffalo were almost gone, hunted out of existence by then, and Hornaday wanted to get a few specimens while he could. After that trip, he decided that something should be done to save the buffalo, not just remember it. So Hornaday became one of the first conservationists, people who worked to conserve, or save America’s wildlife and natural resources. In 1905, he teamed up with President Theodore Roosevelt to start the American Bison Society, dedicated to protecting the buffalo for future generations.
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