14. American Bison
The American bison or buffalo once roamed the plains of North America in tremendous herds from nearly coast to coast. Unfortunately they nearly became extinct over the course of the 19th Century due to commercial hunting and the introduction of Bovine disease from domestic cattle. Prior to the 1800s, there were an estimated 60 million wild buffalo roaming the grass lands. Stunningly, by the beginning of the 20th century there were only approximately 300 wild buffalo left. Thanks to extreme conservation efforts, the numbers have begun to rebound and as of the year 2000, there were around 360,000 wild buffalo living primarily on protected lands in the West and Midwest.
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13. Red Kangaroo
The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial and largest terrestrial mammal in Australia. The red kangaroo calls the majority of Australia its home turf and was extremely common in the early 1900s. Due to hunting and farming efforts, their numbers greatly diminished. Three kangaroo species were listed as threatened in 1974 due to commercial exploitation, but populations have recovered after four Australian states enacted stricter wildlife management programs. Currently the Red Kangaroo is back to calling most of Australian bush its home and has been thriving.
Image Source: Ewa Gillen/Unsplash