| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
|
| News
Article 1/23/05 |
 |
| |
|
|
Letters
to the Editor
Helena Independent Record
1/23/05 |
Bad
bison plan
According to Gov. Schweitzer's plan to eradicate brucellosis,
the Yellowstone herd is diseased. This is simply not
true. The bison, like many wildlife species in the
Yellowstone area, are carriers of the disease. They
don't need to be tested to be declared ‘healthy.'
The governor is right that a better method of testing
for brucellosis is needed. The tests that are currently
being used only determine if the bison have been exposed
to brucellosis at some point in its lifetime. The
only way to tell if bison are infected is to culture
tissues samples from dead animals. In the past, these
culture tests have revealed that only 20 percent of
the bison that tested positive for exposure were actually
infected with the disease.
Half of the herd tested positive for exposure, which
means that only about ten percent of the herd is infected
at any given time.
What becomes of the herd while we develop new tests?
Do they stay in quarentine the whole time? Besides
being an incredibly unrealistic plan, the science
simply does not exist to implement it properly.
Kalanu Johnson
P.O. Bbox 957
West Yellowstone
|
A
real black eye
If Gov. Schweitzer thought that Montana would get a black
eye for the buffalo "hunt," he should think
very hard before pushing his ludicrous proposal to remove
all the buffalo from Yellowstone National Park. He will
be fought tooth and nail.
Less than 15 percent of the buffalo in Yellowstone actually
have brucellosis, and there has never been a documented
case of wild buffalo transmitting brucellosis to cattle.
What about bulls, yearlings, and females past birthing
age? None of these buffalo pose any risk whatsoever to
the "holy cow." And what about elk, and coyote,
and all the other wildlife that cattle have infected with
brucellosis? Is Schweitzer going to push them out of the
park, too? Kill them all?
The Yellowstone herd is America's last wild, genetically
pure population of buffalo left in this country. Allowing
the livestock industry to dictate their fate is something
to be very much ashamed of. Schweitzer's plan should be
scrapped right now, and efforts to manage cattle, vaccinate
cattle, and fence in cattle should be immediately underway.
Stephany Seay
P.O. Box 597
West Yellowstone
Top
of Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
