The American bison (Bison bison), also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds. They became nearly extinct by a combination of commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle, and have made a recent resurgence largely restricted to a few national parks and reserves. Their historical range roughly comprised a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in Canada's far northwest, south to the Mexican states of Durango and Nuevo León, and east to the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States (nearly to the Atlantic tidewater in some areas) from New York to Georgia and per some sources down to Florida. Bison were seen in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750.

Two subspecies or ecotypes have been described: the plains bison (B. b. bison), smaller in size and with a more rounded hump, and the wood bison (B. b. athabascae)—the larger of the two and having a taller, square hump. Furthermore, the plains bison has been suggested to consist of a northern (B. b. montanae) and a southern subspecies, bringing the total to three. However, this is generally not supported. The wood bison is one of the largest wild species of bovid in the world, surpassed by only the Asian gaur and wild water buffalo. It is the largest extant land animal in the Americas.

American Bison, is a public sculpture by American wire sculptor William E. Arnold, located in Indianapolis, Indiana within White River State Park. The sculpture is a life-sized male bison constructed of barbed wire, densely coiled and woven. The figure is facing north and stands on a rough limestone block base. It is located on the west end of the Washington Street Bridge at the entrance to the Indianapolis Zoo. It is 5'9" in height, 7'2" in length and 2'2" in width. The barbed wire bison with the limestone pedestal weigh 17 tons.

Description

American Bison is a life-sized bison made of intertwining barbed wire that is painted brown. The bison is standing on a jagged limestone base, as if on a cliff ledge. A bronze label on the front of the base reads: THE AMERICAN BISON / SYMBOL OF INB FINANCIAL CORPORATION / WILLIAM E. ARNOLD / SCULPTOR / INB FINE ARTS COLLECTION / 1989

Information

American Bison was originally created in 1989 and installed outside Indiana National Bank (INB) in the 100 North block of Pennsylvania Street, One Indiana Square, in downtown Indianapolis. The sculpture served as INB Financial Corporation's mascot. In 1993, the bison was relocated to the Indianapolis Zoo after Detroit-based NBD Bancorp acquired Indiana National Bank.