Catalina Island bison herd: Difference between revisions

The '''Catalina Island bison herd''' is a small group of introduced [[American Bison|American bison]] living on [[Santa Catalina Island, (California)|Catalina Island]] off the coast of [[Southern California]]. In 1924, several bison were acquired for a film shoot and, before the end of 1925, brought to Catalina. The bison are now quite popular with the tourists. Some buildings have been painted with images of bison and decorated with bison weather vanes. Over the decades, the bison herd numbered as many as 600. The population currently numbers approximately 100.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Louis |last=Sahagun |date=2020-11-08|title=Catalina plans to import bison to boost the herd. Biologists aren't happy |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-08/managers-of-catalina-islands-wildlands-defend-plans-to-import-pregnant-bison-and-create-a-dark-and-mysterious-forest|access-date=2021-11-29|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>

Registered as privately- owned agricultural livestock in a fenced-restricted area, it has been commonly reported that the bison were imported in 1924 for the [[silent film]] version of [[Zane Grey]]'s [[Western fiction|Western tale]], ''[[The Vanishing American]]''.{{r|latimesbisonpill}} However, the 1925 version of ''The Vanishing American'' does not contain any bison and shows no terrain that resembles Catalina, according to Jim Watson, columnist for ''The Catalina Islander'' newspaper. In an October 6, 1938 article in ''The Catalina Islander'', he attributes the bison's arrival to the filming of ''[[The Thundering Herd (1925 film)|The Thundering Herd]]'', a silent film released in 1925.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Watson|first=Jim|title=Mysterious Island: Buffalo riddle solved?|url=https://thecatalinaislander.com/mysterious-island-buffalo-riddle-solved/amp/|access-date=2021-11-12|work=The Catalina Islander}}</ref> A September 1938 article in ''Nation's Business'' said the herd then numbered about 30 animals and was left behind with Wrigley's permission after a [[Famous Players–Lasky|Lasky]] Western filmed on the island in 1925.<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|231617055}} |last1=Haig |first1=John Angus |title=A Business Version of the Fuller Life |journal=Nation's Business |location=Washington |volume=26 |issue=9 |date=September 1938 |pages=26– }}</ref> Contemporaneous reports in the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''New York Times'' state that ''The Thundering Herd'' used a collection of [[Yellowstone National Park]] animals herded together for the movie.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|103682124}} |title=Rounding Up the Buffalo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/01/25/archives/rounding-up-the-buffalo.html |work=The New York Times |date=25 January 1925 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|161615847}} |last1=Kingsley |first1=Grace |title=FLASHES: PARAMOUNT DOINGS CECIL DE MILLE WILL GO TO EUROPE SOON |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=11 December 1924 |page=A11 }}</ref> Other shooting locations were the [[Sierra Nevada]] mountains and [[Calabasas, California|Calabasas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1924-Mar 1925) - Lantern |url=https://lantern.mediahist.org/catalog/exhibitorsherald20unse_1245 |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=lantern.mediahist.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Moving picture world - Lantern |url=https://lantern.mediahist.org/catalog/movpicwor72movi_0068 |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=lantern.mediahist.org}}</ref>

AllAboutBison.com, citing newspaper sources and national herd records, argues that the bison were filmed in Yellowstone and then some surplus animals from that herd were sent to Catalina Island by Lasky executives as a bison savings account of sorts, to be used as future events warrant.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catalina Island Bison |url=https://allaboutbison.com/bison-in-history/catalina-island-bison/ |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=allaboutbison.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Newspaper accounts datelinedOn December 11, 1924 state(based thaton the [[dateline]] in several newspaper accounts) 16 bison of 86 culls from the Yellowstone herd (which had numbered 780 on August 1, 1924) had been sent to California{{efn|The bison may have been shipped first to [[Providencia Ranch]] near [[Cahuenga Pass]], then still-rustic land that Paramount used for filming from 1918 to 1927.}} and then were headed to Catalina.<ref name="1924shipping">{{Cite news |title=The Emporia Gazette 11 Dec 1924, page Page 4 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/11770940/ |agency=Science Service |access-date=2023-02-02 |via=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>

The bison herd is maintained and monitored by the [[Catalina Island Conservancy]]. Controlling the bison population is important for the island's ecological health.{{r|latimesbisonpill}} Bison are not native to Catalina Island. Santa Catalina Island Conservancy makes sure that the number of bison on the island does not exceed the [[carrying capacity]]. In 2003, a study was conducted on the bison herd to estimate the carrying capacity of bison on several zones that the bison spend the most time in. The study developed options to prevent the bison from affecting native species such as restricting bison to one or more zones or to get rid of all the bison from the island.<ref name=":0" /> The study found the bison's shaggy coats carry imported plants such as fennel which disrupt [[endemic species]] like [[St. Catherine's lace]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cengel |first=Katya |last2= |first2= |date=September 2022 |title=The Uneasy Future of Catalina Island's Wild Bison |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/uneasy-future-catalina-island-wild-bison-180980559/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

Beginning in 2009, the herd was given animal birth control to maintain the population at around 150 animals.<ref name="latimesbisonpill">{{cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-catalina-bison20-2009nov20,0,1351086.story|title=Catalina bison going on birth control|first=Louis |last=Sahagun|date=2009-11-20|work=Los Angeles Times Times|access-date=2009-11-20}}</ref> With the herd numbering around 100 animals inas 2020of 2024 and no new bison births in several years, Catalina Island Conservancy made the decision to introduce two pregnant female bison bysometime the end ofin the yearfuture. The new additions will enhance the genetics of the current bison population on the Island.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-13|title=New Additions to Catalina Island Bison Herd|url=https://www.catalinaconservancy.org/userfiles/files/PR%20-%20Bison%20Announcement%20-%20FINAL%2010_13.pdf|access-date=2020-11-16|website=Catalina Island Conservancy|language=en-US|archive-date=January 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122083911/https://www.catalinaconservancy.org/userfiles/files/PR%20-%20Bison%20Announcement%20-%20FINAL%2010_13.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Category:1924 establishments in California]]