A study by University of Calgary environmental economist M. Scott Taylor says European demand led to the near extinction of the American bison.
Examining international trade records, diaries and historical documents, Taylor says advanced tanning techniques in Europe led to the swift decline of the bison in the late 1800s. About 6 million bison hides were exported from 1871 to 1883, Taylor said, representing almost 9 million dead bison.
Tribal societies have sometimes been blamed for the decline of the bison.
Get the Story:Europeans Killed Off the American Bison (LiveScience 8/7) Bison Study:
BUFFALO HUNT: INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND THE VIRTUAL EXTINCTION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN BISON (March 2007)
