| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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Articles 3/03/04 |
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| Refuge
bison numbers balloon,
Jackson herd grows unchecked as researchers study feeding
Jackson Hole News & Guide
By Rebecca Huntington
March 3, 2004
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The
Jackson bison herd continued its robust growth, rising
to 729 animals and showing no signs of waning, according
to this winter's survey.
The population grew 16 percent, up from 627 bison counted
in the winter of 2002. Biologists did not count the herd
last year because bison were too spread out due to mild
winter conditions.
For several years now, the population has exceeded a goal
of 400 to 450, which state and federal officials had agreed
to in a bison management plan approved in the mid 1990s.
That plan, however, was thrown out after Fund for Animals
sued.
A federal judge sided with the animal rights activists,
agreeing that the plan failed to consider the impacts
of artificially feeding bison on the National Elk Refuge.
Most of the bison winter on the refuge where biologists
counted 716 animals during this winter's survey, said
Steve Cain, a senior wildlife biologist for Grand Teton
National Park. Another 13 bison, all bulls, were scattered
near Shadow Mountain, Wolff Ridge, the Elk Ranch Reservoir
and Spread Creek, Cain said Tuesday. The bison summer
primarily in Grand Teton.
On the refuge, feed trucks dole out alfalfa pellets for
the bison. Refuge officials started feeding bison seperately
in 1980 because the burly mammals had begun pushing elk
off feed lines to get at the pellets.
In its lawsuit, Fund for Animals argued it would be better
not to feed bison and let them starve to death than to
feed the animals, inflate the population and then hunt
them to control numbers.
The federal judge agreed to put plans to hunt bison on
the Refuge on hold until wildlife managers completed a
study of the feeding program. refuge officials are expected
to release a draft of the study later this year.
Meanwhile, the state allows bison hunting on the adjacent
Bridger-Teton National Forest, and hunters killed 41 bison
last year.
But that won't put a dent in the population, Cain said.
"It's still not enough to stem the growing tide of
the herd."
Allowing only hunting on the forest is impacting the herd's
bull-to-cow ratios. Bulls are more likely to roam onto
the Bridger-Teton where they can be shot. Hunters killed
30 bulls and only 11 females last year, Cain said.
During this winter's survey, biologists counted 80 bulls
for every 100 cows, he said. That's down from the last
count, which tallied 94 bulls per 100 cows.
Unlike other big game species, wildlife managers try to
maintain as close as a one-to-one ratio as possible, Cain
said.
"It maximizes genetic diversity in the herd,"
Cain said. Genetic diversity is important when managing
so few animals, he said. For comparison, the Jackson elk
herd exceeds 12,000 animals.
"We try to manage the bison herd considerably different,"
Cain said. But since the bison herd has grown, the slightly
lower bull ratios are not a concern.
Moreover, if an Elk Refuge hunt is eventually allowed,
it would be no problem to increase bull ratios by hunting
cows, he said.
Calf ratios also declined slightly this year with 39 per
100 cows, down from 51 two years ago, he said. Although
that might slow the growth rate some, herd numbers will
continue to rise if nothing else changes, Cain said.
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