| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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| News
Article 1/20/05 |
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| Schweitzer's
bison plan filled with uncertainties
By Mike Stark, Billings Gazette
1/20/05 |
A
proposal to temporarily depopulate Yellowstone National
Park of its bison herd to eradicate brucellosis would
be an ambitious undertaking.
It's unclear whether it could be pulled off.
On Monday, Gov. Brian Schweitzer outlined his plan to
a Lee State Bureau reporter, offering several steps intended
to eliminate brucellosis from Yellowstone bison.
His ideas include taking several years to run all park
bison through a quarantine facility, where they would
be tested for the disease. Those that show signs of brucellosis
would be destroyed or hunted and healthy animals would
be adopted to American Indian tribes or private landowners.
Over time, the herd — recently estimated at 4,200
— would be reconstituted with animals that were
adopted out or their offspring. Robert Garrott, an ecology
professor at Montana State University who studies ungulates
in Yellowstone, said he doubts whether the governor's
plan to rid brucellosis from bison would work.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to gather up
every bison in Yellowstone and send them through the quarantine
facility, Garrott said.
‘‘From a practical standpoint, it's hard to
believe we'd get them all,'' he said. ‘‘We
can't even count them all.''
Then there's no guarantee that the brucellosis-free bison
that repopulate the park could steer clear of the disease.
Elk can carry brucellosis in Yellowstone, especially those
that congregate in Wyoming's elk feed grounds and wander
back into the park.
Although the possibility of transmitting brucellosis between
elk and bison may be low, ‘‘it doesn't mean
it's zero,'' he said. ‘‘As long as you have
(Wyoming's elk) feed grounds, brucellosis will be in the
system.''
He also questioned whether the plan could be sold to the
American public.
Eradicating brucellosis, he said, would be a tall order.
Even domestic livestock operations, where animals are
tightly controlled, have a difficult time driving out
diseases completely, he said. A system as large as Yellowstone's
would be that much more difficult.
‘‘It's not likely we can eradicate the disease.
We can manage for risk. That's what many professionals
say is a realistic and attainable goal,'' Garrott said.
Members of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a group that advocates
for bison, initially thought Schweitzer's plan focused
on providing more habitat for bison outside Yellowstone,
an idea they support.
But officials of the group on Tuesday said they could
not support a plan to slowly depopulate Yellowstone bison
and reintroduce only brucellosis-free bison.
‘‘The idea of pushing all of the buffalo out
of the park is ludicrous,'' said Stephanie Seay of the
bison group. ‘‘If he was concerned over protests
to the buffalo hunt, wait until he tries this.''
If nothing else, Schweitzer's proposal could rekindle
the debate over how best to manage bison and brucellosis.
He said he wants to begin meeting with state and federal
officials, stock growers, state veterinarians and others
to talk about how to best deal with the situation.
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