President Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law Monday, making the 2,000-pound animal the official mammal of the United States.
The bison once roamed all over the United States before being hunted to the brink of extinction, but the Department of Interior touted the animal’s recovery as one of the greatest conservation stories in U.S. history Monday.
“By the late 1800s, there were only a few hundred bison left in the United States after European settlers pushed west, reducing the animal’s habitat and hunting the bison to near extinction,” Interior said. “Had it not been for a few private individuals working with tribes, states and the Interior Department, the bison would be extinct today.”
Bison now live in all 50 states and more than 10,000 bison live on federal lands, according to the agency.
The law passed the House and the Senate unanimously late last month.
In addition to declaring the bison the national mammal, the law enumerates the cultural, historical and economic importance of the bison to the U.S.
The law is written in such a way that it does not affect any other federal law, policy, regulation or management decision of the federal government.
