American Buffalo

This documentary will present the biography of the most magnificent species on the North American continent, an incredible, furry beast that plays a central role in many exciting, mythical and even heartbreaking stories. In the story, the buffalo gives us a lot to think about. In the shocking and rapid wave of disappearance at the end of the 19th century, the last remaining large-scale buffalo herds were brutally slaughtered. When this animal that had been huge for centuries suddenly only had a few hundred animals left, Americans had to start paying attention: They could actually push a species to the brink of extinction. But if the buffalo story represents the most dramatic demonstration of our ability to destroy the natural world, it also provides compelling evidence of our ability to bring a species back from the brink of extinction. One of the least known parts of the American buffalo's history is what Americans did to make amends after they realized they had nearly driven the animal to extinction. Today, there are more than 350,000 buffalo in the United States, most of which are descendants of the 77 animals from five original groups in the early 20th century. The story - never told on television - is as dramatic and gripping as the story of the buffalo's demise, and as...