| Gardiner,
MT - Park rangers captured 7 bull buffalo in
Yellowstone National Park on Monday evening. The seven
bulls were handed over to the Montana Department of
Livestock and shipped to slaughter Tuesday morning without
ever being tested for brucellosis. Today's slaughter
brings the total killed since November 24, 2003 to 165.
The Park Service claims that the bulls were "unhazable"
thereby justifying their capture. None of the slaughtered
bulls ever left the Park.
There has never been a documented brucellosis transmission
from wild buffalo to livestock. Further, because the
only potential avenue of transmission is through reproductive
tissue such as birthing materials, bulls pose virtually
no risk of infecting Montana livestock.
"The Park Service is intent on destroying the buffalo
it's supposed to protect," said Dan Brister of
the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC). "Bull buffalo,
incapable of transmitting brucellosis, are being slaughtered
to appease Montana cattlemen who are unwilling to share
the range with native wildlife."
According to a press release issued by the park, the
current slaughter is designed to keep buffalo "away
from cattle grazing adjacent to the park." The
closest livestock are located on the Royal Teton Ranch
(RTR), whose owners received more than 13 million tax
dollars in 1998 for conservation easements and land
intended to provide winter range for native buffalo.
Yellowstone is the only place in America continuously
inhabited by wild buffalo. The park provided sanctuary
to 23 buffalo that survived the mass eradication of
the 19th century. The Yellowstone herd comprises the
largest remaining population of genetically pure bison.
Slaughtering bison is in direct contradiction with the
park's mandate to protect park resources unimpaired
for future generations.
The Park Service claimed that the bulls were sent directly
to slaughter without being tested for brucellosis antibodies
because they presented a danger to the 154 bison that
are currently being held in the Yellowstone buffalo
trap at Stephens Creek.
"It's strange that the Park Service is suddenly
concerned with the welfare of buffalo," said Ken
Cole of the Buffalo Field Campaign, "just last
week I watched park employees injure countless buffalo
through inhumane treatment in the Stephens Creek trap.
They clamp their heads in hydraulic jaws, yank them
around by rings inserted in their noses, and force them
to gore one another by packing them in tight spaces.
People don't treat cattle this way." he said.
Today's killing brings the total number of Yellowstone
buffalo killed this winter to 165. The National Park
Service (NPS) is holding another 154 buffalo that tested
negative for exposure to brucellosis in the Stephen's
Creek buffalo trap. Calf and yearling bison among those
being held were vaccinated with RB51 brucellosis vaccine.
Peer reviewed scientific studies have concluded that
RB51 offers no significant protection for brucellosis
to bison.
In the past ten years the Montana Department of Livestock
(DOL) and NPS have slaughtered 2,666 buffalo in and
around Yellowstone National Park. Last March the Park
Service sent 231 buffalo to slaughter without testing
any for brucellosis.
The recent slaughter has prompted members of Congress
to introduce the Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act
(H.R. 3446), which will place a three year moratorium
on the capture and slaughter of Yellowstone buffalo,
dismantle the Stephen's Creek trap, and allow buffalo
unfettered access to public lands immediately adjacent
to the park. The bill has 69 co-sponsors in the House
of Representatives.
The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working
in the field to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's
wild buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo on their
traditional habitat and advocate for their protection.
Daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they
choose to be on and document every move made against
them.
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