Oh Baby! Bison Calf Born at Lehigh Valley Zoo

Lehigh County welcomed the birth of an American bison on Tuesday, the first in almost a decade.

No word yet on whether it's a boy or girl.

The county, which owns the bison that are cared for by the Lehigh Valley Zoo, said the birth is the result of a bison management plan implemented under former county executive Don Cunningham.

Not since May 20, 2004 had an American Bison been born to the herd that calls Lehigh County home, the county said. That bison is this calf's father, the county said. 

Patch first told you about the bison management plan in 2011, when the Lehigh Valley Zoo at the nature preserve brought in two fertile female bison to join its herd. The staff was hoping for baby news.

The breeding program was started as a way to preserve the legacy of Gen. Harry Trexler, who brought bison to the site a century ago.

Trexler was concerned that the once-prevalent bison were headed for extinction in America. During the 1800s, sport hunting and mass slaughters of bison in the Great Plains brought the species from 60 million to the brink of extinction, according to the county's release.

In 1905, pioneering conservationists President Theodore Roosevelt, William T. Hornaday and others founded the American Bison Society at the Bronx Zoo to save the bison from extinction.  By 1906 only 1,000 bison, wild and captive, remained in North America. Trexler consulted with the Bronx Zoo, and relocated bison from the plains to Schnecksville, the release said.

In his will, Trexler left the herd and the nature preserve to Lehigh County residents. 

The calf was born just one day before the anniversary of Trexler’s birthday.