The hulking animals that stepped from trailers to corrals late at night drew a hushed, attentive audience of about 25 people.

The reason for the reverence: Wild bison have been reintroduced on the prairies east of the Mississippi River for the first time since the 1830s, says the conservation group coordinating the effort. The 20 animals will eventually be released from the corral to gradually roam much of the 3,500-acre Nachusa Grasslands — the key part of an ambitious prairie restoration 95 miles west of Chicago.

“The word that keeps coming up is surreal,” said Jeff Walk, director of science for the Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, which owns Nachusa and has been readying the land for the bison since the late 1980s. He accompanied the 20 bison on an eight-hour truck trip from Broken Kettle Grasslands preserve near Sioux City, Iowa, to Nachusa last Friday.

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“After all the work that people have put into this,” Walk said, “it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s actually happening.'”

The bison relocation is an effort to reunite the species with the most imperiled ecosystem on the planet so both can thrive. Some bison enthusiasts even hope the new oversized, shaggy residents of Nachusa, the largest restored prairie in Illinois, will spark an environmentally responsible agricultural movement in the state.

“If industry can adopt those practices,” Matt Ruhter, president of the Illinois Indiana Bison Association said of placing bison on prairies, “then you’ll get a lot of new prairies popping up and all the benefits that come along with having prairies.”

Temperatures hovered in the low 40s and clouds had darkened the starry skies when the two semitrailers carrying the bison rolled to a stop at 10:17 p.m. Friday. Wind gusts prompted observers, many of whom were taking video, to bundle themselves in layers, hoods and hats.

The bison kept everyone waiting. Despite being prodded by broomsticks, encouraged by large rattles shaken at them and hooted at by their handlers, many of the animals refused to scoot through the open rear doorway of one trailer, down the enclosed ramp and through the chute to the corral. By 11:30 p.m., the crew assigned to make that entry happen had departed, allowing an estimated 10 animals to exit when they were ready.

Then the crew, Nachusa staff and volunteers gathered in a home across the road from the prairie, sipped beer and celebrated. On the table were plates of bison-shaped cookies and brownies.

Despite the somewhat rocky arrival, Nachusa volunteer Cindy Crosby said the moment was historic.

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“This is tallgrass prairie in Illinois and this is the missing piece of the puzzle,” said Crosby, who drove with her husband, Jeff, from Glen Ellyn to view the bison arrival. “More than 700 species [at Nachusa] but we didn’t have the big piece, and tonight it’s all going to change. Nothing is going to be the same as it was yesterday.”