| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
|
| News
Article 2/24/04 |
 |
| |
|
|
| Officials
hold 33 bison at facility near Gardiner
Casper Star Tribune
Associated Press
February 24, 2004
|
GARDINER,
Mont. (AP) -- Thirty-three bison that tried to
leave Yellowstone National Park over the weekend are being
held while officials prepare to test them for brucellosis,
state and federal officials said Monday.
Cheryl Matthews, a spokeswoman for the park, said the
animals were rounded up Saturday after efforts to haze
them away from the park's northern boundary were unsuccessful.
"When hazing is no longer effective, then we are
left with capturing them as the alternative," Matthews
said.
The animals are being kept in pens near Stephens Creek,
Matthews said, and testing was expected to begin as early
as Tuesday. Any animals that test positive will be shipped
to slaughter, she said. Those that test negative will
be held until spring, then released in the park, Matthews
said. This year, yearlings that test negative will receive
a brucellosis vaccination before being released in the
spring.
Under a joint management plan, bison that leave Yellowstone
for Montana and cannot be herded back in to the park are
captured and tested for brucellosis, a disease that can
cause cattle to abort. Montana cattle ranchers fear the
bison could spread the disease to herds that graze near
the park.
In some areas, such as the Stephens Creek area, officials
can capture bison before they leave Yellowstone if the
animals cannot be hazed away from the park's boundary.
Under the plan, officials also may kill animals without
testing them first if the park's bison herd tops 3,000
by late winter. Matthews said the population currently
is estimated at about 4,200.
Karen Cooper, a spokeswoman for the Montana Department
of Livestock, said the park on Monday asked the agency
for help at the Stephens Creek capture facility.
"They've asked us to be on hand in the event that
they need to transport some of the animals to slaughter
facilities," she said.
Top
of Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
