Buffalo Field Campaign Weekly Updates from the Field 2006/2007

GARDINER -- Three young bison from Yellowstone National Park became the first shipped to a holding facility near here, the state Department of Livestock said Wednesday.

The bison were among 14 animals captured near West Yellowstone, near the park's western border, and tested for brucellosis. Eight bison tested positive and were sent to slaughter, the department said, and three others were released after testing negative.

This is the first year that young bison are being sent to what state and federal officials call a bison quarantine facility.

The pilot project is meant to study whether a quarantine facility could be helpful in finding bison free of brucellosis and if it could be used to establish brucellosis-free herds in Montana and other states.

The Buffalo Field Campaign and other critics see the facility as an effort to treat bison like domestic cattle. The activist group on Wednesday also questioned the techniques used on the wandering bison.

Bison routinely leave the park this time of year. A joint state-federal management plan allows for the hazing and capture of wandering bison and for the testing of the animals for brucellosis, which can cause cows to abort. Bison that test positive are sent to slaughter.

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Buffalo Field Campaign West Yellowstone Montana

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