A day in San Angelo’s State Park offers more than trails and deer sightings.
"The park superintendent at the time; who was in the development of the park, it was always his dream to have the bison and longhorn here at the park,” said Texas Parks and Wildlikfe Herd Ranger Bill Guffey.
San Angelo is home to over a dozen bison and nearly 150 longhorn.
"About 1996 we started bringing them in small groups of each,” said Guffey.
He says many often confuse the bison with the buffalo.
"There's not such a thing as buffalo in the united states, except for the ones we’ve brought over here from the overseas,” said Guffey. “All of ours are the American bison, the bison ones are the native ones to the United States."
Before the bison nearly reached extinction in the 19th century they were the primary food source for the Native Americans.
"The Native Americans used every bit of them, they used the hide, the bones, the hooves, the horn, the tail,” said Guffey.
He adds that when compared to salmon they offer some of the same health benefits.
"They’ve got a lot of the same nutrients in it, in some cases they’ve got more of that in it,” said Guffey.
And while the longhorn is known for its leaner meat, Guffey says very few ranchers raise them for beef.
"By the nature of the longhorn animal they don’t have as much meat, they’ve got larger bone structure,” said Guffey.
He says both herds of longhorn and bison are available for viewing at the park year round.
"Come out to San Angelo and visit them some time, they like company,” said Guffey.