peoples of the Plains occupied the land, hunting bison and pronghorn. The expansion of the United States onto the frontier decimated the population of the indigenous people and the bison. The plowing of the tallgrass prairie to plant crops destroyed the natural habitat. Less than 4 percent of the prairie is left according to most estimates. Studies estimated in 2018 that grasslands in the U.S were being lost at a rate of more than . Bison occupy less than 1% of their historical range with fewer than 20,000 bison in conservation herds on public, tribal or private protected lands. Roughly 500,000 animals are raised for commercial purposes. Protected areas Cemetery prairies Cemetery prairies are remnants of native North American prairie. See also Bison herds topics History of bison conservation in Canada U.S. National Grasslands Pre-Columbian savannas of North America United States Grasslands Reserve Program References + Mexico geography-related lists Grasslands