At Prairie State Park a lot of people ask, "What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison? Aren't they basically the same thing?"
Well...yes and no.
What a lot of people refer to as a "buffalo" here in North America is really the American bison. It really doesn't matter what we call these animals, however, because they are what they are, but, yes, there are many distinct differences between an American bison and a true buffalo.
This is a picture of what a true buffalo looks like. This is an African Cape Buffalo...
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| African Buffalo At Sunset in Moremi Game Reserve - Botswana. Photo Credit |
For comparison, I will post a picture of an Asian Water Buffalo...
The Cape Buffalo and the Water Buffalo are the big animals that early Europeans recognized, and could more readily relate to, early on when seeing the bison for the first time, thus, the name, "buffalo" was used and stuck.
However, as you can see for yourself, there are distinct differences when comparing these animals, including size, weight, horn size and shape, and even in the number of ribs.
Until next time...
~Rebecca
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