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Golden Gate Park has a long history of bison on the grounds.
The park first welcomed a pair of bison in 1890: A cow, named Sarah Bernhardt, and a bull, named Ben Harrison, began roaming the fields of the park. In 1899 the herd, which now included several other bison, was moved from the Music Concourse to its present location at the paddock, just west of Spreckels Lake along John F. Kennedy Drive.
The bison were part of conservation efforts to keep the majestic American behemoths from going extinct; at one point, Golden Gate Park hosted about 30 head. More than 100 calves were born during the conservation project. The park has had only female bison for the past 25 years.
The population has risen and fallen through the decades as the herd battled bovine tuberculosis, relocation and old age. In 1984, philanthropist and investment banker Richard Blum gifted his wife, then-San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, with a pair of bison for the park. Over the years, new bison have come and gone, and the five older bison are descendants of that original pair.
Names for the bison over the years have taken on many themes, including members of the Shakespearean royal family, salutes to Native Americans, and simple descriptors such as Last Cow. The five older bison currently at the park are named Betsy, Bailey, Belatrix, Buttercup and Bambi. A sixth, Brunhilde, died in August.
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