Yellowstone National Park on Wednesday started shipping hundreds of wild bison to slaughter for disease control, as a quarantine facility on a Montana Indian reservation that could help spare many of the animals sat empty due to a political dispute.
Fifteen female bison initially slated for quarantine on the Fort Peck Reservation were instead loaded onto trailers near the town of a Gardiner, Montana and sent to slaughter. Hundreds more will be shipped in coming days and weeks, park officials said.
More than 400 bison, also known as buffalo, have been captured this winter attempting to migrate out of the snow-covered park to lower elevations in Montana in search of food. More animals are expected to be captured and shipped to slaughter through March.
Fort Peck's Assiniboine and Sioux tribes built their quarantine facility to house up to 300 animals in hopes of using it to establish new herds across the U.S with Yellowstone's genetically pure bison.
Tribal Chairman Floyd Azure said state and federal officials "slapped the Fort Peck tribes in the face" by not using the facility.
"They knew we were building a quarantine facility. A lot of money and time and effort were involved in this and all of a sudden they throw a monkey wrench in it," Azure said.
Montana livestock officials and federal animal health agents oppose transferring bison to the quarantine site because the animals have not been certified to be free of brucellosis, a disease that can cause animals to abort their young. Ranchers in the state fear bison could transmit the disease to cattle and would pose competition for grazing space on public lands.
No transmissions of the disease from wild bison to cattle have been documented.
There were an estimated 5,500 animals at last count. To reduce that number, park officials want to kill up to 1,300 bison this winter through a combination of slaughter and public hunting.
Fifteen female bison initially slated for quarantine on the Fort Peck Reservation were instead loaded onto trailers near the town of a Gardiner, Montana and sent to slaughter. Hundreds more will be shipped in coming days and weeks, park officials said.
More than 400 bison, also known as buffalo, have been captured this winter attempting to migrate out of the snow-covered park to lower elevations in Montana in search of food. More animals are expected to be captured and shipped to slaughter through March.
Fort Peck's Assiniboine and Sioux tribes built their quarantine facility to house up to 300 animals in hopes of using it to establish new herds across the U.S with Yellowstone's genetically pure bison.
Tribal Chairman Floyd Azure said state and federal officials "slapped the Fort Peck tribes in the face" by not using the facility.
"They knew we were building a quarantine facility. A lot of money and time and effort were involved in this and all of a sudden they throw a monkey wrench in it," Azure said.
Montana livestock officials and federal animal health agents oppose transferring bison to the quarantine site because the animals have not been certified to be free of brucellosis, a disease that can cause animals to abort their young. Ranchers in the state fear bison could transmit the disease to cattle and would pose competition for grazing space on public lands.
No transmissions of the disease from wild bison to cattle have been documented.
There were an estimated 5,500 animals at last count. To reduce that number, park officials want to kill up to 1,300 bison this winter through a combination of slaughter and public hunting.
Quite frankly, I am continually appalled at efforts to "control" bison populations. As always, it's a typically male mentality when enacting control over populations, where the emphasis is on killing and destroying, versus more creative solutions offered by several area tribes. Was this a slap in the face to indigenous peoples - controlling a species which was nearly decimated in an obscene effort to control tribes? Haven't we already seen this sort of thing in the past? Hello? Do you people even listen to the rest of us?
Please do not KILL the bison, use the tribal quarantine which is why it is there. What is your problem?
This is obviously wealthy cattle ranchers eliminating the competition by payoffs. At the expense of the natural order.
Money, money, money? They make money when they sell and slaughter... make NO money if bison go to reservation! No brainer for anyone with half a brain, but park rangers must be required to have less than 1/2 a brain to qualify for employment? Sorry park rangers, but if you do not like being bashed, get your shit together!
Who makes the decision to kill off sentient beings? They are not diseased! They won't hurt the stinking cattle that graze free there. Afraid the bison will eat all your free food your cattle are eating?
Is there a vaccine or cure for this alleged disease?
apparently there is:) https://www.cdc.gov/brucellosis/veterinarians/cattle.html and this same site states that most times in humans it can be treated with antibiotics. However...it needs to be treated with Universal Precaution measures for safety. It seems to me that if the Fort Peck Refuge/quarantine center wants to attempt to treat and cure them as well as offer educational programs to ranchers, hunters, dog owners, vets and anyone else in the general public who wants to know about the vaccine and other ways to prevent the spread of the disease then it would be great! If they could actually solve the problem this disease causes to both animals and humans it would benefit the world. I think they should be given the chance to try...slaughter should always be the LAST option.
Its been proven that this disease has not ever been recorded to have come from Bison to domesticated Cattle ever!! Its money and politics...its all the world is about anymore...If anything, the cattle are getting this disease from the conditions that they live in...There is no legal reason that these Bison couldn't be released to the various Native American tribes facilities...Just another ploy of The government to gain control and reap the benefits of the big time cattle corporations....After all, why would anyone think they would suddenly start caring about Native Americans now!?
So Now we JUST KILL THE PLANET? FOR CASH GAIN?..WONT BE ANYWHERE TO SPEND SAID CURRENCY..SO IT'S BEGUN..:-(..
TIME TO RISE AS A COMBINED AND LOVING NATION.../PLANET.
Grrr..
Shame on you USA !! Be proud off these animals .unbelievable it s sick murder when you do this.Let them alone please .USA come on .It s disgusting and seriouss what a shame for your country.
Shame on you US "officials," who are officially inhumane, and succomb to corporate pressure just like every spineless politician in this country! Only 5,500 wild bison here and you want to cut 20% of them? Disgusting! It is not for us to CONTROL EVERYTHING allow nature to run its course and micro-manage on the off-chance there MAY be a transmission.......to some cow many miles away OUTSIDE of Yellowstone. Disgusting