News

Spring has arrived and, with it, the newest four-legged addition to the Fermilab community.

A bison calf was born early on Saturday, April 25, at Fermilab. About 12 more calves are expected this spring. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory welcomes the public to come see the latest addition to its herd of American bison.

Visitors, including families with young children, can enter the Fermilab site through its Pine Street entrance in Batavia or the Batavia Road entrance in Warrenville. Admission is free, but you will need a valid photo ID to enter the site. Summer hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

Visitors can also explore the exhibit and viewing areas on the 15th floor of Wilson Hall by signing in at the reception desk Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Fermilab’s first director, Robert Wilson, established the bison herd in 1969 as a symbol of the history of the Midwestern prairie and the laboratory’s pioneering research at the frontiers of particle physics. The herd remains a major attraction for families and wildlife enthusiasts. Today, the Fermilab site boasts seven particle accelerators for use by thousands of researchers around the world, as well as 1,100 acres of reconstructed tallgrass prairie. The U.S. Department of Energy designated the 6,800-acre Fermilab site a National Environmental Research Park in 1989.

Visitors can learn more about nature at Fermilab by hiking the Interpretive Prairie Trail, a half-mile-long trail located near the Pine Street entrance. The Leon Lederman Science Education Center offers exhibits on the prairie and hands-on physics displays. The Lederman Center hours are Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For up-to-date information for visitors, please visit http://www.fnal.gov/pub/visiting/ or call 630-840-3351.

To learn more about Fermilab’s bison herd, please visit our Web page on the bison herd.

Fermilab is America’s premier national laboratory for particle physics and accelerator research. A U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, Fermilab is located near Chicago, Illinois, and operated under contract by the Fermi Research Alliance LLC. Visit Fermilab’s website at www.fnal.gov and follow us on Twitter at @Fermilab.

The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.