'The largest death toll for Yellowstone’s buffalo since the 19th Century'

From: Bison Advocates Propose a Way out of Needless Buffalo Slaughter

 

This has been a gruesome year for the buffalo of Yellowstone with nearly one third of the herd killed by state and federal authorities. The 1,465 animals slaughtered represent the largest death toll for Yellowstone's buffalo since the 19th Century, when the species was nearly wiped off the planet. On the heels of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report critical of the way that bison have been treated, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Buffalo Field Campaign, and Gallatin Wildlife Association have called for the Governor of Montana and administrators of the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) to immediately put a bold plan in place to stop the slaughter. The plan centers on a specific geographic area west of the park, where the factors that normally cloud the buffalo debate are not present. A moratorium on buffalo slaughter and harassment at Horse Butte will allow the herds time to recover while a more humane management plan can be put into place.

"There is a way out of this senseless slaughter," said Louisa Willcox, senior wildlife advocate for the NRDC. "I think everyone recognizes that a change is needed here---but the same issues of conflict with cattle and property rights issues always short circuit public debate. Those issues do not apply at Horse Butte. This proposal gives the buffalo a chance to recover while the state and federal authorities get time to look at the criticism from community groups and the GAO report. I am confident we can find a better way to manage these national icons."

In the coming weeks, Yellowstone buffalo will make their annual migration westward to calving grounds where they can find food and safely birth new calves. Many will head to the Horse Butte peninsula, located outside of Yellowstone's western border in Montana. Typically, state and federal officials have attempted to aggressively force the animals back into the park for fear of potential disease transmission to cattle. This "hazing" of the animals has created some ugly and unfortunate situations with calves being trampled by the startled stampede.

 

 

From Emergency Rule Sought to Stop Park Service Slaughter of Wild Bison in Yellowstone National Park

 

Yellowstone is home to America's only wild bison who have continuously occupied their native habitat. This winter, Yellowstone National Park and the State of Montana have engaged in an unprecedented slaughter or removal of over 1,550 bison that have migrated to their winter range near and beyond park borders. One-third of the entire bison herd has been wiped out with 1,284 captured and shipped to slaughterhouses on order from officials in the National Park Service and the Montana Department of Livestock under Governor Brian Schweitzer.

"The Park Service's current course is to slaughter bison without concern as to the damage being done to the genetic diversity of the distinct bison populations in Yellowstone," explains D.J. Schubert, a wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute. "The petition raises a red flag that unprecedented, large scale slaughtering of wild bison is jeopardizing their long term survival."

The petition presents scientific evidence of at least two genetically distinct bison populations inhabiting the park. The National Park Service currently manages the bison in the park without consideration of this evidence.

To ensure bison's long-term survival and health, the National Park Service must sustain a minimum of 2,000 bison in each distinct bison population. That number would ensure that genetic diversity is conserved -- allowing bison to naturally evolve and adapt to a changing environment, and retain important survival behaviors like natural migration and selection.

The coalition says the National Park Service has ignored this science and failed to adapt its bison management plan to ensure the long-term survival of each distinct bison population.

The petition, submitted under the authority of the Administrative Procedures Act, asks Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to publish an emergency rule prohibiting the National Park Service from killing or participating in the killing of bison, or otherwise permanently removing bison from either population, when the population is reduced to 2,000 or fewer bison. Both bison populations have been reduced to fewer than 2,000 animals this winter.