Very few of the 2.5 million people who visit Yellowstone National Park and who are awed by America's only continuously wild and genetically pure bison herd are aware that over the past decade, state and federal agencies have engaged in the wanton slaughter of 3,500 of these magnificent animals, solely because they wandered out of delineated confines of the National Park.

      Author Daniel Brister has dedicated his life to protecting the buffalo through field work and at every level of the policy arena. In the Presence of Buffalo was inspired by his desire to see the buffalo honored and respected and the slaughter stopped. This inspiring narrative weaves personal reflections and stories of the present-day buffalo slaughter with information gathered through historical, cultural, and scientific research. Five chapters and an appendix explore the relationship between human beings and bison, or buffalo, as they are popularly called in this country.