Bison to become first national mammal, joining bald eagle as American symbol

The bison will join the bald eagle, the national emblem since 1782, as America's symbolic animal, in an effort to prevent it from going extinct

The bison, an animal once hunted to the brink of extinction in America, is set to become the first national mammal of the US, putting it on a par with the bald eagle as a symbol of the nation.

Congress has passed legislation, the National Bison Legacy Act, which names the hoofed beast as a "historical symbol of the United States" and establishes it as the nation's landmark mammal.