| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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| News
Article 1/15/04 |
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| Brucellosis
task force faces criticism
By JOAN HAINES, For the Bozeman Chronicle
1/15/04
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State
and federal officials dealing with brucellosis spent Wednesday
figuring out ways to eliminate the disease from bison,
elk and cattle, while bison enthusiasts spent the day
telling the officials they weren't doing it right.
The Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee's
executive committee members reiterated their goal to "protect
and sustain the existing free-ranging elk and bison"
in the Greater Yellowstone Area, while protecting the
"economic viability of the livestock industry"
in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.
State and federal officials want to eliminate brucellosis
among elk, bison and livestock by 2010.
Although that date might be too soon to be realistic,
Tom Thorne of the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish
said, it gives agency workers a deadline to work toward.
But the Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers gathering a
couple miles away in downtown Bozeman were less concerned
about the date than the process for eradicating brucellosis.
At noon, about 20 volunteers held a rally on Main Street
to proclaim that "wildlife should be left wild."
"Let the buffalo roam; stop the slaughter in Yellowstone,"
some of them chanted. "Brucellosis -- kill the myth,
not the buffalo."
Others held banners or wore buffalo masks. The highly
visual event captured the attention of local television
stations and even a TV crew here from Salt Lake City.
Buffalo supporters also dropped a two-story-long banner
adorned with a drawing of a buffalo and elk from the roof
of the Baxter Hotel.
The banner stayed up until police arrived and asked that
it be removed. It was and no one was arrested.
"This is a very special herd, a national treasure,
that really needs to be protected," said Danny Bristen,
who said he has spent seven winters monitoring bison in
West Yellowstone.
Brucellosis, a disease that can cause cattle to abort
their calves and cause an untreatable flu-like illness
in humans, has long divided wildlife supporters and Montana's
cattle industry.
Livestock officials contend bison can transmit the disease
to cattle and, if that were to happen, the state could
lose its brucellosis-free status. As a result of that
fear, hundreds of bison that tested positive for brucellosis
when they entered Montana from Yellowstone National Park
have been sent to slaughter.
At the interagency meeting, Glenn Plumb, supervisory wildlife
biologist for Yellowstone, suggested one way to keep bison
from getting brucellosis might be to capture calves and
yearlings about to leave Yellowstone's north entrance
and vaccinate them against the disease.
If Yellowstone's top officials approve that plan, vaccinations
at the Stevens Creek facility near Gardiner could begin
this winter, Plumb said.
Officials are also discussing delivering vaccinations
to free-ranging bison in Yellowstone from a distance via
a vaccine enclosed in a bullet, shot from a specially
designed gun.
Meanwhile, investigators are still trying to determine
how 29 cows on a western Wyoming ranch contracted the
disease in December. Much of that herd was to be slaughtered
Wednesday and 105 heifer calves have been spayed, said
Jim Logan, Wyoming state veterinarian.
At the end of the interagency meeting, the committee invited
public comment.
Joe Gutkoski, secretary of the American Buffalo Foundation,
suggested buffalo entering Montana should be managed by
the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "Get
the Department of Livestock out of it," he said.
Buffalo Field Campaign volunteer Joshua Osher also said
the emphasis should be on the wild animals, not the livestock.
"This country should be protecting these bison and
elk because they're irreplaceable," he said.
Brucellosis is only a problem if livestock is present,
noted Will Patrik of Bozeman, coordinator of the Greater
Yellowstone Wildlife Alliance. He suggested the committee
encourage private landowners outside Yellowstone's northern
entrance to graze cattle elsewhere or to put up fences
separating bison and cattle.
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