| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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| News
Article 3/23/04 |
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| Another
50 bison sent to slaughter
By Scott McMillion
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Staff Write
March 23, 2004
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The
last 50 bison captured in Yellowstone National Park have
been shipped to slaughter, spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews
said Monday.
That work was completed Friday and brought the total number
of dead bison this winter up to 264. No more bison were
captured over the weekend.
The National Park Service is holding another 198 animals
that have tested negative for exposure to brucellosis.
Those bison will be kept until there is enough green grass
inside the park to keep them from wandering toward private
land to the north.
The last time the Park Service held bison was in 1997,
and green grass didn't emerge until the middle of April.
"There are some patches of greenup in the park but
it will still be a while," Matthews said Monday.
Of the dead animals, 207 had tested positive for exposure
to brucellosis. The remaining 57 dead weren't tested for
the disease because the Park Service ran out of room in
its holding pastures northwest of Gardiner.
Approximately 100 more bison have spent much of the winter
outside the park on the east side of the Yellowstone River,
in the Jardine area where there aren't any cattle.
Bison in that area aren't trapped or tested as long as
they don't wander too far to the north.
Ken Britton, Gardiner district ranger for the U.S. Forest
Service, said last week the bison in Jardine had torn
up some fences but had caused no other problems that he
knew of.
"I like the way that's working out up there,"
he said.
Wild bison aren't tolerated in areas of Montana where
cattle sometimes go, under a 4-year-old plan created by
the state and federal governments.
The policy was implemented even though there has never
been a documented case of bison transmitting brucellosis
to cattle in wild conditions. The disease causes infected
animals to abort their calves and can cause lingering
flu-like symptoms in people.
It is spread mostly through contact with infected birthing
material, though unpasteurized milk was a source many
years ago when the disease was more common. Accidental
pricks from vaccination needles have infected some veterinarians
and other people.
Montana's cattle herds have been certified as brucellosis
free since 1985.r
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