2. The American Bison
If there were a king of huge mammals in the United States and the North American hemisphere, we definitely needed to consider the American bison. Not only is it one of the most famous huge mammals in the U.S., but it is also a magnificent species of bovine. A lot of people know them as “buffalos”, but the name and true buffalo are actually a different genus from the American bison and were more common in the Old World.
The American bison is a huge mammal that almost went extinct during the 19th century and the start of the 20th century due to excessive hunting and the development of their grazing areas. However, conservation efforts in the last hundred years have paid off, and we have managed to save two subspecies of the iconic American bison: the plains bison, which was known to roam the American Great Plains in herds of millions at one point, and the wood bison, which can predominantly be found in the northern parts of Alaska and Canada.
Despite the two subspecies of bison being saved and considered huge mammals, as they are both titans when it comes to wild cows, the wood bison is the biggest one of the two. The wood bison also holds the record when it comes to being the heaviest mammal in America: an adult bison can weigh over 2,000 pounds!
If you are curious about more animals that inhabit the Great Plains, we recommend you read American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains, which you can find on Amazon!
