WASHINGTON — 

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) this week unveiled a new item in his historic Senate majority whip leadership office in the U.S. Capitol: a large mounted bison head, which is on loan from the National Bison Association. The bison is from Slim Buttes Ranch in Buffalo, South Dakota, and the taxidermy was provided by Gary English of Golden Hills Taxidermy in Rapid City, South Dakota.

“We’re very excited, and it’s a great honor to have and to be able to see, mounted on our wall, a bison from South Dakota, and to be able to say thank you to the people who made that possible – the Bison Association, the taxidermist, and certainly all those out there who raise bison, not only in South Dakota, but across the country,” said Thune. “The bison is so associated with the landscape of South Dakota and such an important part of our heritage, of our history. People who settled in our part of the world needed it for food, for shelter and clothing, and it continues to this day to be a very majestic creature, and one that in our state we are very proud of.”