According to the Defenders of Wildlife organization, there were 20–30 million American range bison in the old West. During the late 1800s the American range bison were hunted to the brink of extinction, leaving behind a bottleneck population of only 1,091 individuals. The population has since rebounded to about 500,000 bison. Unfortunately, almost all of these bison are the descendants of these few individuals crossbred with domestic cattle by ranchers. Scientists and conservationists want to genetically test bison to find those of pure bison origin to preserve the species. Only these, they argue, should be called American range bison and be allowed to roam free in the national parks as bison. They think hybrids should be confined to farms and ranches, should be called “beefalo” rather than bison, and should not be afforded the protection that pure bison currently have. What do you think? Should bison tainted with cattle genes be removed from free-range parks? Should the government spend scarce conservation monies on genetic testing and breeding efforts to preserve the pure bison population? Investigate conservation efforts and the costs of genetically testing and relocating bison to help you with your decision. Is speciation at the hands of human beings now part of evolution as we know it?

According to the Defenders of Wildlife organization, there were 20–30 million American range bison in the old West. During the late 1800s the American range bison were hunted to the brink of extinction, leaving behind a bottleneck population of only 1,091 individuals. The population has since rebounded to about 500,000 bison. Unfortunately, almost all of these bison are the descendants of these few individuals crossbred with domestic cattle by ranchers. Scientists and conservationists want to genetically test bison to find those of pure bison origin to preserve the species. Only these, they argue, should be called American range bison and be allowed to roam free in the national parks as bison. They think hybrids should be confined to farms and ranches, should be called “beefalo” rather than bison, and should not be afforded the protection that pure bison currently have. What do you think? Should bison tainted with cattle genes be removed from free-range parks? Should the government spend scarce conservation monies on genetic testing and breeding efforts to preserve the pure bison population? Investigate conservation efforts and the costs of genetically testing and relocating bison to help you with your decision. Is speciation at the hands of human beings now part of evolution as we know it?