Private commercial ranching has been important since the beginning in restoring buffalo to the North America ecosystem and still plays a key role today. It’s true that the majority of buffalo live on commercial ranches.

About 400,000 plains buffalo live in the US and Canada. But then, it all depends on how you count them. Some owners count just the cows. Others count cows plus calves—and calves might be 1, 2 or 3 years old!

“It started as a hobby,” recalls Toots Marquis, a Gillette, Wyoming rancher. “But buffalo are like rabbits. If you’re not careful, pretty soon you’ve got too many!”