Bison Conservation

small herd of bison grazing on hill near trees

Denver Parks and Recreation maintains two conservation bison herds in the Denver Mountain Parks system at Genesee Park and Daniels Park.  The herds are descended from the last wild bison in North America and were originally established at Denver’s City Park by the Denver Zoo and the City of Denver.  By 1908, 18 bison at the zoo were all that remained in Colorado.  The herd was moved to Genesee Park in 1914 and expanded to Daniels Park in 1938. The conservation partnership between the Denver Zoo and Denver Parks and Recreation continues to this day. 

Denver Mountain Parks began caring for the first managed bison herd in Colorado in an effort to conserve the species and prevent extinction.  Herds that numbered more than 30 million when the first European explorers set foot on the American continent were nearly wiped out by the 1880s. At the turn of the 20th century, fewer than 1,000 bison remained in existence. Today it is estimated that there are roughly 500,000 bison in North America.

The City and County of Denver was an early leader in bison conservation and has maintained its herd for more than a century. The purpose of a conservation herd is to support the health and survival of a species by preserving genetic heritage and/or ecological function. Denver’s herd has been important in protecting genetic diversity and supporting population recovery, and for connecting Denver residents and visitors to an important part of our native ecosystem. 

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Donation of American Bison to Tribal Nations

Beginning April 2021, the City and County of Denver began donating surplus bison to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, to return wild bison to their native homes and reintroduce bison to tribal lands. In consultation with Denver Parks and Recreation's tribal partners, the Denver American Indian Commission, the Tall Bull Memorial Council and the InterTribal Buffalo Council, the donation of surplus American Bison to American Indian Tribes or American Indian Non-Profit organizations will continue through the year 2030.   

DPR held its 36th and final annual Bison Auction at Genesee Park in March 2020, auctioning off young bison from Genesee Park and Daniels Park. This auction historically kept the herd at a healthy population size and promoted genetic diversity within the managed bison population. DPR no longer conducts the auction but works with tribal partners to select tribes across the country that will accept the bison to build and enhance conservation herds on their tribal lands. 

City Cast Denver: Why Denver is Raising Bison...And Returning Them

April 3, 2023 Episode:

From City Cast Denver: Last month, the City of Denver transferred 35 bison from our historic herd at Genesee Park outside Golden to the Northern Cheyenne, Eastern Shoshone, Yuchi, and Tall Bull Memorial Council. It was the third annual transfer of bison to indigenous tribes who once lived on the land that became Denver, but it’s far more than a symbolic gesture. Host Bree Davies sits down with Parks and Recreation’s deputy director Scott Gilmore and the executive director of the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, Jason Baldes, to talk about how this unique program started, why it matters, and how these buffalo are creating real opportunities for the recipient tribes. 

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Conservation herd at Genesee Park.

a group of bison seen from a short distance with hills and trees in the background

Bison are equipped to forage through deep snow and can survive harsh winter conditions.

a single large bison in the snow

A female bison and her young calf.

an adult bison with a lighter colored calf walking behind her
a brown bison bull in the middle of a small herd

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