Flying D News Today

And threatening their existence. nbc news correspondent serry sanders has a look at the new effort to save them. >> reporter: im on horseback on the flying d ranch. this is ted turners ranch in montana. 113,000 acres. home to bison. but unfortunately, buffalo are facing a new challenge. climate change. the mighty buffalo, also called bison. up to 60 million once roamed north america. almost hunted to extinction in the late 1800s, bison numbered then fewer than 1,000. today with a half million in...

>> theyre certainly a lot safer now that theres more of them. >> teds bison herd is now the largest private herd in the world, 50,000 strong and spread out over 15 of his ranches. getting to this point, though, took a steep learning curve. >> what youre looking at here is 30 years of letting nature take its course, and ted having the vision to make this happen. >> my names danny johnson. i manage the flying d ranch for ted turner and ive been with him for 25 years. its about 113,000 acres, rough...

Park. >> back when we began, i said ted, nobody as ever done this before. he said mike, we always do things for the first time, and he just walked away. i thought, okay, got it boss. thats the marker were going to be guided by. >> at the core of this idea of saving everything, is that in order to save the planet, you have to save all the species that make up the planet from the biggest bison down to the smallest prairie dog, and including predators like the endangered gray wolf. a personal dream...

Heaven. >> i was with ted, and he gets a call from mike phillips, and mike says, ted, ive got good news for you. wolves have been seen on the flying d. >> ted was giddy, almost child like. >> gray wolves have been on this rarc ranch ever since. it is typically one of the largest packs in north america. weve got bison, elk, mule deer, white tail deer, antelope. >> today spread across the flying ds 113,000 acres. >> wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, mountain lions, bobcats, coyote coyotes, fox. ...

>> at the flying d, teds ranch near boseman, montana he zeroed in on what he thought was missing from his land. >> why do you love the bison so much? >> well, because its a native american animal and there were no cattle here when white man came. time to restore the native ecosystem. >> ted has made it his mission to save endangered wildlife, like the bison. he started the turner endangered species fund to make it work. >> the whole idea is to put wild populations back in place. theres nobody ou...

Ever known. >> i want to be able to sit on the porch and look out and see the reflection in the middle of the lake of the mountains. >> our golden pond, yes. >> at the flying d, his ranch in montana, he zeroed in on what he thought was missing from his land. >> why do you love the bison so much? >> because it is a native american animal, and there were no cattle here when white man came. time to restore the native eco system. >> ted has made it his mission to save endangered wildlife, like the b...

The porch and look out and see the reflection in the middle of the lake of the mountains. >> our golden pond, yes. >> at the flying d, teds ranch near boseman, montana, he zeroed in on what he thought was missing from his land. >> why do you love the bison so much? >> because its a native american animal. and there were no cattle here when the white man came. trying to restore the native ecosystem. >> ted has made it his mission to save endangered wildlife, like the bison. he started the turner ...

>> our golden pond, yes. >> at the flying d, teds ranch near boseman, montana, he zeroed in on what he thought was missing from his land. >> why do you love the bison so much? >> because its a native american animal. and there were no cattle here when the white man came. trying to restore the native ecosystem. >> ted has made it his mission to save endangered wildlife, like the bison. he started the turner endangered species fund to make it work. >> the whole idea is to put wild populations back...

Ever known. >> i want to be able to sit on the porch and look out and see the reflection in the middle of the lake of the mountains. >> our golden pond, yes. >> at the flying d, teds ranch near bozeman, montana, he zeroed in on what he thought was missing from his land. >> why do you love the bison so much? >> because its a native american animal. there were no cattle here when the white man came. trying to restore the native ecosystem. >> ted has made its his mission to save endangered wildlife...