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Buffalo graze on the plains in South Dakota
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The Buffalo Hunter
Although they didn't kill many buffalo on this hunt, Buffalo Bill killed thousands during his lifetime. He killed 4,280 buffalo in 17 months alone. By 1870, the bison (the scientific name for buffalo) population of the Great Plains had been divided into two sections on either side of the Union Pacific railway line--the northern herd and the southern herd. The southern herd was completely killed by 1875 and the northern herd by 1885. By 1889, only 835 bison were left alive in the U.S. Today, one variety, the woodland bison, is still an endangered species while over 20,000 plains bison thrive in managed herds.
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