Since wild bison were reintroduced to an Illinois prairie after being absent from the region for nearly two centuries, the animals have been multiplying a bit like another more prevalent prairie mammal: rabbits.
About 15 bison calves were born this spring and summer at Nachusa Grasslands, a prairie restoration project about 95 miles west of Chicago that is fostering the relationship between two fledgling entities — Illinois' prairies and the iconic animals that help sustain them.
"They're doing well," Nachusa Project Director Bill Kleiman said of the herd of about 45. "They look just like they belong, which they do.