Nearly 200 years after bison were hunted to extinction in northern Mexico, 47 were reintroduced in 2025, and are now helping prevent wildfires and regenerate their lost ecosystem

For nearly two centuries, the American bison was missing from this corner of northern Mexico. The animals that once grazed across the region had been driven out by human activity and hunting, leaving behind a landscape without one of its most influential large herbivores. Then, in 2025, they came back.

A total of 47 American bison were reintroduced into the El Santuario Reserve in Cuatrociénegas, Coahuila, a protected area within the Chihuahuan Desert, according to an AS report. The reintroduction was carried out in two stages: three bison arrived in August, followed by 44 more in November. The larger group consisted of 38 females and six males. The initiative involved Fundación Pro Cuatrociénegas, the Museo del Desierto and the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature, among other conservation partners.