“Others would be captured for slaughter or research purposes”.
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Yellowstone spokeswoman Sandy Snell-Dobert says the National Park Service “has to do this”, citing a legal agreement.
“We believe we’ve outgrown it – new data about general biology and disease prevalence are available, and public opinion is shifting toward more tolerance for bison and Montana”, the National Park Service explained in response the current management plan. The bison, mostly calves and females, would be delivered to Native American tribes for slaughter.
Despite these efforts to reduce the number of buffaloes, their population has remained high, which is why officials are trying to switch up their strategy this year.
During winter 2014, park officials slaughtered only 737 bison, failing to meet their target of 900.
The herd is culled annually, and killing 1,000 of the animals would be the largest single reduction since 1,600 were euthanized in 2007.
Stephanie Adams, from the National Parks Conservation Association, added: ‘Until there’s more room for bison to range beyond the park boundary, we’re going to have to rely on larger numbers of bison being sent to slaughter’.
The herd at Yellowstone was estimated to number about 4,900 this summer.
With the bison, unfortunately, also comes the potential for livestock to be contaminated with diseases which the wild bison may bring across the state borders due to their migration.
Last year, Montana Governor Steve Bullock proposed allowing bison to roam all year in an area west of Yellowstone if the population dropped below 3,500 animals. According to spokesman Wessler, there’s yet to see a finalized decision in this.
The species, also known as buffalo, once numbered a few 60 million animals, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
As the West was settled, commercial hunting drove bison almost extinct.
Ranchers are particularly concerned about brucellosis, which can cause pregnant cows and other animals to miscarry their young.
Montana state veterinarian Marty Zaluski it’s hard to know exacty how many bison will migrate into the Montana region where they’ll be targeted. “Nature has a way of defying your best expectations”.
Matt Skoglund, director of the Northern Rockies Office at the NRDC, staunchly opposes the cull called for under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, which was recently announced.
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Jimmy St. Goddard, a spiritual leader of the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana, said the culling, for him, evokes a painful chapter of American history in which USA extermination campaigns pushed the massive, hump-backed creatures to the edge of extinction. He views the proposal of killing so numerous beasts this winter as an unfortunate one.
