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American bison in Yellowstone National Park
Where the buffalo ruminate
For bison, summer is always a great time to put on a few extra pounds before winter comes – but even when looking to beef up, bison still order the salad. Grazers of grass and other wild brush, these great American ungulates are also ruminants; their specialised digestive systems process and metabolise food extremely slowly, squeezing as many calories as possible out of a few mouthfuls of grass. Every little bite helps for this lumbering, hungry herd – there's a long Yellowstone winter ahead of them.
Where the buffalo ruminate
For bison, summer is always a great time to put on a few extra pounds before winter comes – but even when looking to beef up, bison still order the salad. Grazers of grass and other wild brush, these great American ungulates are also ruminants; their specialised digestive systems process and metabolise food extremely slowly, squeezing as many calories as possible out of a few mouthfuls of grass. Every little bite helps for this lumbering, hungry herd – there's a long Yellowstone winter ahead of them.
As ruminants, bison have metabolisms that operate in super-slow motion to maximise energy.
© barbaraaaa / iStock / Getty Images Plus 2026-09-11 08:45:51 :