Western United States. Over half a million bison are shot by Native Americans every year for food. Another 100,000 are killed by hunters each year for their fur, which is shipped east via steamships. Hunting focuses on young females, for their soft and more valuable coats. Between 1872 and 1874, hunters slaughtered approximately 6 million bison (each pelt resulting in an average of five animals killed due to losses to wolves and incompetent skinning) with the new .50-caliber rifle, quickly bringing the species to the brink of extinction. In the second half of the 19th century, the American bison population collapsed, and by 1894, the enormous herds in Yellowstone Park had been reduced to 25 animals. By the end of the 20th century, the American bison population had collapsed. The American bison population will reach 545,000 animals, of which 500,000 are on private land, 30,000 on public land, and approximately 15,000 in the wild, on unfenced land.
