A portion of the park's upland prairie has been reserved as a range for a small herd of American bison, commonly known as buffalo. Although the springs of the park were once a favorite watering hole of large herds of bison which roamed this area, increased settlement led to the elimation of the animal in the last half of the nineteenth century. The small herd present in the park today is descended from a group of six bison which were obtained from the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in western Oklahoma in 1920. These prairie giants are most often and easily seen in the afternoon from the Bison viewpoint on Highway 177.