Bison Paddock to Get Renovation, Expand

By Edmund Moy

After years of wrangling over design proposals and project funding, Golden Gate Park's bison paddock will finally get renovated.

According to a statement released by Rick Thall, the project manager for the SF Department of Public Works, the project received four bids in October 2006. After reviewing the bids, the SF Recreation and Park Commission awarded a construction contract in November to San Francisco-based NTK Construction, Inc. for $692,900. The overall budget for the project is $1,262,206.

Construction at the paddock is anticipated to begin in February and be completed by August.

According to the Rec. and Park Department, the current bison paddock has been at its present location in Golden Gate Park since 1890. The paddock has not been renovated in more than 25 years. It is in need of a major renovation to bring the facility into compliance with the American Disabilities Act and U.S. Department of Agriculture and zoo accreditation regulations.

The improvements will include expanding the paddock by four acres, installing a new perimeter fence, replacing the existing barn where the animals are housed, and adding a new storage facility. The barn will include a chute and corridor system to capture individual animals for routine care.

Improvements will also include improved public views and access as well as a proposed tribute to Chief Will Two Bears, the honorary patriarch who watches over the bison.

The bison paddock is a large enclosure where the bison sleep, eat and live. Situated along John F. Kennedy Dr., between 36th and 41st avenues, the bison are cared for by staff members at the SF Zoo.

Revered by Native Americans as a manifestation of the "great spirit," bison are the largest land mammals native to North America. They were originally named "Tatanka" by the Lakota Indian tribe. Based on fossil records and historical accounts, an estimated 30 million to 60 million bison roamed the land prior to the arrival of the first Europeans.

However, encouraged by the U.S. federal government and fueled by dreams of riches during the United State's westward expansion, profiteers began a large-scale bison slaughter. Over the course of just a few decades, millions were killed.

According to some historians, they were hunted, in part, to destabilize, or "civilize," Native American tribes. By 1889, less than 1,000 bison were left. Those were saved by the combined efforts of William Hornaday (director of the Bronx Zoo in New York City) and a small group of ranchers.

In 1905, the American Bison Society was formed to save the bison and protect rangeland for the animals. Today, those efforts are carried on by the National Bison Association and the Canadian Bison Association.

The bison herds of today number in excess of 350,000 and are growing. The bison paddock in Golden Gate Park was created as part of the effort to prevent extermination of the bison, according to the now-defunct San Francisco-based Watch Bison Committee's Web site.

As part of the preservation program, a captive breeding program was begun in 1891 with the purchase of a "family," consisting of one cow named Madame Sarah Bernhardt and a bull named Ben Harrison. With the addition of three bison in 1905 from Yellowstone National Park, by 1918 the herd had grown to 30.

But, in 1980, seven bison came down with bovine tuberculosis and were transferred to an enclosure just east of the San Francisco county jail in San Bruno. The healthy remnants of the original herd were donated in 1995 to a wildlife reserve in southern Oregon.

By the late '90s, there were only 12 females in Golden Gate Park. There are currently nine healthy female bison living in the paddock, ranging in age from 12 to 15 years. The city has no immediate plans to breed more bison. For more information about bison, visit the National Bison Association's Web site at www.bisoncentral.com.