They smell horrible. Did a snowmobile trek through Yellowstone. They can run up to 45 mph. You are told to stop and keep still if you come across them but they have minds of their own!! They have been known to kill. Magnificent all the same
And to think there used to be millions of them. Until Europeans arrived and killed most of them and their traditional companions, the native American humans.
Most of the buffalo were slaughtered after the American Civil War...so I'd not blame it on Europeans but on Americans. Some historians say the native Americans were also involved along with other hunters...selling bison skins and meat for cash. That, combined with the westward movement and the building of the railways, contributed to the slaughter.
Peter@23:12...yes, there were groups who wanted to control or better yet, obliterate Native Americans, but the selling of skins, along with the leather produced, was hugely profitable for both white trappers but also for native Americans who, it's theorized, changed their hunting techniques to adapt.
This wiki article explains a lot...