Home ›

Bison in Yellowstone National Park

In watching programs on Animal Planet and National Geographic and reading about the hazing and slaughter of the bison in the parks, several questions came to mind. Why aren't the bison being inoculated, during the spring calving or anytime, for the Brucella bacteria instead of being slaughtered, especially with the introduction of the wolves back into the ecosystem of the park? What is happening to the carcasses after slaughter? Is someone making a profit from the slaughter, other than the ranchers? Is that meat going into any products being sold in the U.S., Canada, or anywhere in the world? Why aren't the Elk being hazed and slaughtered too?

I created a PowerPoint for a

Submitted by jsmacdonald on December 27, 2008 - 12:21pm.

I created a PowerPoint for a presentation I gave on December 6 in Bozeman on the basics of buffalo situation.

I seemed to have deleted one slide, but this should get at most of the questions.

Here is a direct link to the PowerPoint. The talk is entitled: "Buffalo in Yellowstone 101"

Jim Macdonald
The Magic of Yellowstone
Yellowstone Newspaper
Jim's Eclectic World

Dusty, Some quick

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on December 27, 2008 - 10:00am.

Dusty,

Some quick answers:

1. No effective, large-scale inoculation program has been developed, though I believe the state of Wyoming continues to work on it.

2. Some carcasses are given to Native American tribes and other groups.

3. I don't think anyone is really making a profit from the slaughtering, though it can be argued that Montana's livestock industry (and theoretically Wyoming's and Idaho's, though most bison on the move move into Montana) suffers significantly when the state loses its "brucellosis free" status as when that's lost cattle need to be tested for the disease, a costly endeavor.

4. The elk question is a very good one, as there are more elk than bison and they travel farther, I believe, in migrating from summer to wintering grounds. Interesting conundrum, no?