Red Dead Redemption 2 is Hiding Tragic Secret You Won't Have Noticed

Of all the games in all the world, few can claim to be as packed full of tiny details and interesting features as Red Dead Redemption 2, with Rockstar going all in on the little things as part of their strategy to make the decline of the Wild West come alive.

Now, we all know about the fact that horse testicles shrink in the cold in-game, or if you drive them too hard they get that gross, white foamy sweat under the saddle.

Equally, there are plenty of mysterious, and sometimes even quite sad, features and stories that you can come across in the open world that really drive home how hard life would have been for the people that live there.

Whether it's the unfortunate events at the Aberdeen Pig Farm, or Marko Dragic's robot quietly mourning his dead "papa" without really understanding the concept of what that means, it really can be a bleak place to to carve out a life for yourself.

That isn't all though, as there's another small detail that really might break the collective hearts of animal lovers everywhere.

Rockstar Games

The Bison Population in Red Dead Redemption is Upsettingly Low

Over on Reddit, one user asked fans of the game what the saddest thing they have come across in the game is, that it's possible to miss on any given playthrough.

One comment in particular relates to the game's bison, and it's a cutting reflection on real world events that's enough to brng a tear to even the most stoic of eyes.

"There are less and less bison as the game progresses, and if you kill them all yourself they never return," the comment reads.

So to be strictly accurate, you can only make the bison completely extinct in the first Red Dead Redemption game, which is set after RDR2, though you can watch their numbers dwindle drastically here.

It's a sad commentary on real life events in which Western settlers hunted the beautiful species, very nearly to extinction by the end of the 19th century, as a way to put pressure on the native American population, which relied on the animal for food and hides.

It is, however, possible to kill all of the Carolina Parakeets in Red Dead Redemption 2, a real bird that was unfortunately declared extinct in 1918, when the last example in captivity died, with none being seen in the wild ever since.

Fortunately, the American Bison has recovered significantly and it is now relatively safe for the future, so that's something we can hold onto!