What to Do with Hungry Bison?

Photo by Jeff Vanuga

Update: December 22, 2011
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is arguing with the U.S. Federal government over what to do with the upcoming winter’s overflow of hungry–and potentially brucellosis* exposed–Yellowstone National Park bison. The Associated Press reported that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is proposing to move the bison to South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. Gov. Schweitzer is adamant that the bison belong to the state of Montana and stay in Montana; he proposes moving them to the National Bison Range in the western part of the state and is blocking all shipments of fish and wildlife out of the state. The Department of the Interior believes transferring the bison to the National Bison Range will “stigmatize” the existing herd, although all bison slated for transfer have been found to be free of brucellosis. An alternate to transferring the bison is slaughtering them as has happened in years past. The projected number of bison expected to leave the park in search of food this winter is 1,000. Read the full AP article.

January, 2011
Limited food supplies within Yellowstone National Park in winter months leave hungry bison with little choice but to migrate to lower elevations not blanketed in snow. While park officials have made serious efforts to keep the animals from leaving the park, they have had little success. This year the roaming bison are being herded to holding pens at the Stephens Creek facility inside Yellowstone and, for the first time, the Brogan Bison facility at Corwin Springs. In total over 500 bison are currently being held at the two facilities.

Much of the controversy surrounding the wandering Yellowstone bison boils down to a disease some, not all, of the animals carry–*brucellosis, a bacterial infection that can cause cattle to miscarry, and is transferable between several species of animal. Ranchers have good reason to keep their cattle away from bison and other infected animals (elk can also carry the disease)–once a population becomes infected the cost to ranchers becomes immense (due to testing and slaughter expenses) and Montana ranchers are intent on maintaining their brucellosis-free standing.

In the past, as the Yellowstone holding pens reached capacity officials have been left with little choice but to send some bison to slaughter, a move that angered many, including Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. Schweitzer recently passed a 90-day halt on the slaughter of Yellowstone bison.  The bill allows for enough time to herd bison back into the park come May 15, after the so-called “green-up” when the snow is melted and grass sprouts.

Currently incoming bison are sorted into infected and non-infected pens at the Stephens Creek facility. Some of the disease-free bison are then transferred to the Brogan facility; come spring the healthy bison will be returned to the park. A decision has not been made about the fate of the infected bison following the 90-day reprieve.

The holding pens, while an improvement over mass slaughter, are not a long-term solution for corralling hungry, wild bison. Montana lawmakers and the federal government have been working on a solution for years although previous agreements have yet to come to fruition.