The American buffalo is the largest land animal in North America. Massive herds of buffalo, more accurately known as bison, once roamed between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. Many American Indian groups developed lifestyles that revolved around hunting these large animals, which can weigh up to 3,000 pounds. Estimates of pre-European numbers of buffalo in America range from 30-70 million. About 20 million buffalo lived on the western plains in 1850. White hunters began to wipe out the buffalo herds, and by 1889, only 551 buffalo could be found in the entire U.S. “Buffalo” Bill Cody alone killed more than 4,000 buffalo in just two years. Great efforts were made to help the animal recover. In 2000, the number of bison had been restored to over 350,000.