Thunder Valley releases 50 bison in South Dakota

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Earlier this month, a nonprofit held its first bison release as it looks to restore North America's largest land animal. Thunder Valley is a South Dakota-based nonprofit that is working on helping restore the bison herd in the Dakotas. It held its first release of 50 bison onto 40,000 acres owned by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, which will house the herd. "Especially as Lakota people, you know, our buffalo have really been a huge part of who we are. You know, we see them as relatives. They provided everything for our people, food, clothing, shelter, all the things that we needed to survive," said Trenton Old Horse, CEO of Thunder Valley. According to the Department of the Interior, in 1900 there were just 300 American buffalo left on the continent. It's projected that at their peak, there were more than 60 million American buffalo throughout the continent. Now, there are roughly half a million buffalo, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildl