Bison
CreatureMisc
Bison taming calculatorKnockout
To tame the Bison, you need to knock it unconscious first. Tranq Arrows, Tranq Darts, and Shocking Tranq Darts all work. Once unconscious, Torpor drains at 1.2/s, so keep Narcotics or Bio Toxin ready.
- Wild level150
- Tamed level224+74
- Max level after leveling297
Taming foods
| Food | Amount | Taming time | Effectiveness | Feeding interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Superior Kibble | 54m 21s | 98.69%+74 Lvl (224) | 3m 12s | |
 Archelon Algae | 1h 1m 30s | 92.57%+69 Lvl (219) | 1m 30s | |
 Crops | 4h 1m 29s | 44.17%+33 Lvl (183) | 1m 30s | |
 Mejoberry | 4h 0m 44s | 30.85%+23 Lvl (173) | 1m 8s | |
    Berries | 4h 0m 44s | 16.55%+12 Lvl (162) | 45s |
Required narcotics
143Narcotics
507Narcoberries
72Bio Toxin
327Ascerbic Mushrooms
Knockout weapons
Bow56 Normal hits0% Death chance
Crossbow32 Normal hits0% Death chance
Fabricated Crossbow (Tranq Arrow)32 Normal hits0% Death chance
Tranquilizer Dart23 Normal hits0% Death chance
Shocking Tranquilizer Dart12 Normal hits0% Death chance
Tek Bow15 Normal hits0% Death chance
Compound Bow41 Normal hits0% Death chance
Harpoon Launcher17 Normal hits0% Death chance
Starve & Torpor Timers
More about taming the Bison
The results below show total taming time, effectiveness, and bonus levels for the Bison at your selected level and food. Higher-quality foods yield more bonus levels.
Use the knockout chart to see exactly how many Tranq Arrows, Darts, or other torpor weapons it takes to down the Bison. Wait between shots for torpor to tick up. Firing too fast can kill the creature before it goes down.
To simplify the knockout, immobilize the Bison first with Chain Bola or Bear Trap. Alternatively, use a Quetzal to airlift it into a pre-built trap.
Use the narcotic calculator to determine exactly how many Narcotics, Bio Toxin, or Narcoberries you need for the Bison. Narcotics provide 40 Torpor each and are the standard choice. Bio Toxin offers 80 Torpor but is harder to farm. Narcoberries at 7.5 each are a last resort. At 1.2 Torpor drain per second, apply narcotics proactively - a wakeup mid-tame wastes everything.
The real-time timers below help you monitor Torpor drain and Food depletion during the tame. The torpor timer alerts you when narcotics are needed. The starve timer tracks Food depletion for starve-taming, where you let the food bar drop before placing all food at once.
The Bison, a tamable, herbivore creature in ARK: Survival Ascended, is a notable presence across multiple maps.
Health-wise, the Bison sits at 800 base, making it solidly tanky. With 100% base Melee Damage, the Bison has decent hitting power. Stamina sits at 500 base, providing respectable staying power. Weight capacity starts at 650, giving it an enormous weight pool.
Taming the Bison requires rendering it unconscious first - use Tranq Arrows, Darts, or Shocking Tranq Darts to apply torpor. Superior Kibble is the most effective food for taming, offering the highest affinity per feeding.
After taming, the Bison is a practical workhorse - it can both gather and haul resources efficiently. Breeding is via live birth rather than eggs, simplifying the process. A wild Bison is worth 4 base experience when killed. It can be cloned at a Cloning Chamber for 0.39 Element plus 0.01 Element per level.