Bison that wander out of the park onto public lands are slaughtered.
YELLOWSTONE N.P., MONT.-The annual slaughter of bison that wander outside Yellowstone National Park is under way, and critics of the practice fear that as many as 1,000 buffalo could be killed before winter ends.
Bison that stray from Yellowstone onto public lands can be killed under a state management plan designed to slow the spread of brucellosis, a disease some bison carry that officials say can be passed to livestock-an occurrence that has never been documented in the wild.
Through November, four bison had been captured and killed after wandering from the park onto adjacent public lands in Montana. These killings alarmed many citizens and groups, including NPCA, that strongly oppose the plan.
"There is no incident of documented transmission of this disease between bison and livestock," said Tony Jewett, NPCA's senior director for the Northern Rockies region. "The bison are being slaughtered for no sound reason and to appease private cattle interests who choose to make private their use of our public lands."
Opponents of the management plan also consider it a gift to the livestock industry, which views bison as competition for public land forage.
"Bison should have preferred status on public lands, with the opportunity to be free-roaming and free-ranging," said Jewett. "Particularly in Yellowstone, there are no bright lines telling bison or elk where they need to stop before it becomes public land."
The state of Montana has had permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to kill buffalo since 1995. The winter of 1996-1997 was especially eventful; unusually cold temperatures brought many bison outside the park in search of food, and 1,083 were slaughtered. Last winter, 202 were killed.
State officials have set a population minimum of 3,000 Yellowstone bison. The Yellowstone herd is at about 4,000, so up to 1,000 could be killed this year.
NPCA and other groups, including the Buffalo Field Campaign, continue to oppose the bison management plan. NPCA has resurrected its Bison Belong campaign, through which businesses and citizens in the Yellowstone area will be engaged to oppose the slaughter.
