A healthy prairie is home to many different creatures that help to balance the sensitive ecosystem. These animals that live in prairies range from large bison to small rodents, and each one plays an important role in maintaining this unique habitat. Keep on reading to learn more about these animals that call the prairie their home.

One of only four remaining temperate grasslands in the world, the Northern Great Plains ecoregion spans five US states and two Canadian provinces across 183,000 square miles of mixed-grass prairie. Two hundred years ago, bison, black-footed ferrets, pronghorn antelope and grassland birds thrived on the landscape alongside Native American tribes ...

Prairies historically covered nearly one third of North America. This sea of grass stretched from the Rocky Mountains to east of the Mississippi River and from Saskatchewan, Canada south to Texas. It was the continent's largest continuous ecosystem supporting an enormous quantity of plants and animals.

Some animal species contribute to the prairie ecosystem’s agricultural value. The American bison (Bison bison), a relative of cattle, is native to the North American prairie. Bison are the largest land mammals in North America, but they have small, pointed hooves.