American bison on Dec. 22, 2025, in the Burlington Prairie Forest Preserve in Burlington Township, where six of the bison have been introduced. The bison’s return marks yet another victory in efforts to restore the Prairie State to an ecosystem and a landscape that bison shaped for hundreds of years. | E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune
By Adriana Pérez | Chicago Tribune
From their cozy homes in suburban Burlington, children curiously watch their new neighbors through windows and brainstorm nicknames.
Earlier this month, with their distinctive brown fur, big heads, short horns and back hump, a small herd of six American buffalo — the largest land mammals in the country — exited a trailer and took their first steps on 38 acres of prairie restored by the Kane County Forest Preserve District, 60 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. It’s the first time in over two centuries that bison have called the county home.
Inches of snow had piled on the ground, and conservationists had waited for hours in the brutal cold for the animals to show up.
The move was a rematriation, a return of missing relatives, according to Jay Young, co-executive director of the American Indian Center of Chicago, which owns the animals in the collaborative conservation effort.
“I don’t like using the word ownership, because that’s not a Native or Indigenous worldview,” Young said. “We are the stewards of the bison, and so we’re looking after them, we’re taking care of them, we’re making sure they’re OK.”
The Kane Forest Preserve began working toward bringing back bison three years ago, but the project “transcends generations” and has been “hundreds of years in the making,” according to the district’s executive director, Benjamin Haberthur. After an initial deal fell through, staff at the district felt discouraged about finding an Indigenous partner, until the American Indian Center stepped in.
“Without the Native American education component, (it) would have been a huge loss, because the story of the bison is the story of Native Americans in the country,” he said.
Read more here.
Editorial note: Think, “Horizon Farm,” Forest Preserves of Cook County.
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