IN 1905, the idea of sending a herd of bison from zoo stock to their original range in Oklahoma sounded ridiculous -- especially when it came from a taxidermist who had in 1886 shot and skinned some of the last bisons for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum. But William Temple Hornaday felt that America would never be forgiven if bisons, "the most prolific mammalian species that ever existed", were snuffed out.

The only bisons were 200 animals at the Yellowstone National Park, 250 in captive-ranching and exhibition herds, and about 85 in the wild. After Hornaday was appointed director of the Bronx Zoo, he transported 15 bisons 2,280 km to a range in the foothills of the Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma and designated the place a national game preserve.

After 10 years, the head count was 92. Today, the herd is maintained at 480, and excess stock is auctioned so as not to exceed the carrying capacity of the range.

Meanwhile, the American Bison Society set up a bison range in Montana. Hornaday raised money for this range by writing to hundreds of mayors and bankers that it was the duty of every red-blooded American to support the project. The money poured in. Soon, bison were being raised in half a dozen preserves.