I ride past Golden Gate Park's Bison Paddock pretty much every day and have been waiting a long time -- seemingly all winter -- to be able to see and photograph these impressively huge animals out in the same meadow that they and their ancestors have been roaming and browsing in for more than a hundred years.
Groundskeepers recently bulldozed part of the meadow, perhaps to improve the forage, and the scars are already filling in with grass. It's a good time to see the bison out and about.
As I stood at the fence with the bison just a few feet away I was struck by just how huge these impressive animals really are. I could only imagine what it must have been like to see vast herds of them on the open plains. It was interesting to see cape buffalo up close at the San Diego Safari Park last week, but seeing these American bison felt more special, more deeply touching. They impart a visceral appreciation of our link to the deep history of the people and animals who call this land home.
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