| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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| News
Article 4/11/08 |
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Advocates
seek halt of bison slaughter
Emergency appeal filed with federal officials to stop
Yellowstone bison killing
By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press Writer
4/11/08 |
BILLINGS
- Bison advocates and environmental groups submitted an
emergency appeal to federal officials on Thursday to halt
the continued slaughter of bison migrating from Yellowstone
National Park.
Since last fall, 1,615 bison seeking
food at lower elevations outside the park have been killed
or removed, under a state-federal livestock disease management
program and through hunting.
With another wave of the animals expected
to journey soon to Montana calving grounds, critics say
the slaughter is threatening the viability of Yellowstone's
bison herds.
"It's a national tragedy. Something
has to be done to protect these majestic creatures,"
said D.J. Schubert with the Animal Welfare Institute.
Schubert's group joined 12 others and
four individuals in filing an administrative petition
with the Department of Interior to suspend the slaughter
program. Among the other groups were the Natural Resources
Defense Council, The Humane Society of the United States,
the Buffalo Field Campaign and the American Indian Law
Alliance.
This year's slaughter - combined with
a public hunt and the removal of some animals for testing
- has cut the park's bison population by more than a third.
Park officials contend the herds have
rebounded from similar reductions. After more than 1,000
bison were killed or removed for research during the winter
of 2005-2006, the population had recovered by 2007.
Yellowstone's two herds make up the
largest surviving group of wild bison in the world. Park
spokesman Al Nash said Yellowstone biologists do not believe
this year's slaughter threatened its viability.
He said the Park Service already has
taken steps on the north end of the park to hold some
captured bison until they can be released once the snow
melts.
"We review our actions and make
changes as appropriate," he said.
But those who filed Thursday's petition
said the park had failed to account for genetic differences
in Yellowstone's two herds.
Because most of the animals killed came
from just one - the Central herd - they said argued the
slaughter program could have unforeseen consequences.
"These large scale, wholesale slaughters
cannot be sustained over the long term without genetic
harm," said Darrell Geist with the Buffalo Field
Campaign.
In a related action, three of the groups
involved in Thursday's emergency petition asked Montana
Gov. Brian Schweitzer and state and federal agencies to
halt bison captures in an area west of the park known
as Horse Butte.
The groups said there was little chance
bison on the butte could transmit the disease brucellosis
to livestock, since cattle no longer graze in the area.
Thirty-four bison were captured from
Horse Butte this week. The last of those were shipped
to slaughter Thursday.
About half of Yellowstone's bison test
positive for exposure to brucellosis, which can cause
pregnant cows to abort their calves.
However, no cattle-to-bison transmissions
have been recorded.
The moves to halt the slaughter follows
a report from the Government Accountability Office last
week that criticized state and federal agencies for making
little progress to stem the slaughter.
The GAO report said a plan adopted eight
years ago to slowly increase tolerance for bison outside
the park had effectively stalled.
The agencies involved - the Forest Service,
Park Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and Montana Department
of Livestock - have failed to come up with an effective
brucellosis vaccine and other steps outlined in a 2000
agreement.
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