| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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| News
Article 3/16/04 |
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than 150 bison captured near park boundary
By Nick Gevock
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Staff Writer
March 16, 2004
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Yellowstone
National Park officials captured more than 150 bison near
the park's northern boundary Sunday and Monday after some
of the animals charged rangers on horseback.
But their capture has pushed the Stephens Creek corral
along the park's northern boundary, where the animals
are being held, beyond full capacity -- and many bison
may have to be killed regardless of their disease status,
park spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews said Monday.
The animals caught in the past two days have yet to be
tested for brucellosis, a disease that causes bison and
cattle to abort their calves.
Bison that test positive for the disease will be immediately
shipped to slaughter. Those that test negative will be
held at Stephens Creek until spring and then released
back into the park.
But the Stephens Creek facility only has room for about
200 bison, Matthews said. And since park officials were
already holding 154 bison that had been captured in previous
roundups and tested negative for brucellosis, the corral
has reached capacity.
As a result, even if all of the 150 new bison captured
in the past two days are free of the disease, about 100
will have to be killed because the corral is out of space.
And once the corral is full of disease-free bison, all
bison wandering out of the park will be shipped to slaughter
without testing.
Rangers have been hazing bison every day just south of
the Stephens Creek corral along the park's northern boundary,
Matthews said.
But after days of being pushed back toward the park's
interior, bison grow testy and the hazing becomes less
effective.
By Sunday, some bison began charging rangers.
Officials captured 32 bison Sunday morning that were still
inside the park, but moving north toward private land
owned by the Church Universal and Triumphant.
On Monday morning, rangers captured an additional 120
bison that had wandered north overnight, 30 of which had
left the park and entered the CUT's Royal Teton Ranch.
Matthews reiterated that the bison's management is dictated
by the Interagency Bison Management Plan, which was signed
in 2000 and includes agreements between state and federal
agencies.
The park has captured 457 bison this year and sent 145
to slaughter.
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