After the death of his wife two days after giving birth to their daughter, Theodore Roosevelt headed west to heal and to become a cattle rancher in the badlands of North Dakota. After his cattle died off in the winter of 1887-88 he returned to New York to continue his career as a statesman and then become President. He was an avid conservationist and advocated for the preservation of large game and their habitat. As president he established the National Forest Service and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act under which he proclaimed eighteen national monuments, five national parks, 150 national forests, and dozens of national reserves - over 230 million acres of protected land. Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established in 1947 in his honour.
DO NOT PET THE FLUFFY COW!!!
We handed this photo over to a law enforcement ranger at the visitor center as this is an endangerment of the animal. You are supposed to remain a MINIMUM of 25 yards from non predatory animals per federal law. I’m not a snitch but this was an egregious endangerment of the bison.
My picture of the same animal from my car window as we slowly idled past him.
The buffalo in the park were obtained in 1956 from a national wildlife refuge in Nebraska. The 29 animals roamed free on the parks acreage and by 1962 had increased their population to 145 animals. At that time 10 bulls and 10 cows were moved to the north unit of the park. Although the park can hold a larger number of animals the bison population is kept to about 300 animals in the south unit and 150 in the north unit to limit the impact on other animals in the ecosystem. Historically numbers in the plains were kept in check by grizzlies and wolves but without these natural predators here any longer it is up to park rangers to manage the heard.
Wild Mustang
There wee prairie dog towns everywhere! They are absolutely vital to the health of the grasslands and are adorable to boot!
Flowering cactus
Look who enjoyed the prairie dogs as much as I did 👀
These are cannon ball conceptions and absolutely naturally formed by mineralized water deposits minerals that act like glue on the surrounding sediment creating natural shapes. In this case cannon balls
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