Three larger-than-life bronze bison now guard the National Mall side of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, lining the main entrance on raised plinths like an honor guard. The bull, cow and calf were installed the evening of March 18 and opened to public viewing on Thursday, March 19, creating a dramatic new arrival scene as the museum gears up for a major spring exhibition on the species’ comeback. Smithsonian Institution
According to the museum, the trio was designed by natural-history artist Gary Staab and donated by Naoma Tate and the family of Hal Tate, with the forms modeled on specimens from the Smithsonian’s Hornaday collections. In a statement, Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, called bison “truly an…..