ISLAND PARK, IDAHO: Federal agents with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture shot and killed a bull bison this afternoon. The bull had migrated to the area from Yellowstone National Park and was grazing to the south of Twin Creek, near the Nature Conservancy's Flat Ranch property.

According to Buffalo Field Campaign Habitat Coordinator Darrell Geist, who witnessed the shooting, "This is part of the bison's historic migration. For the past several years we've seen bison attempt to access their native habitat in Idaho only to be met with a bullet. As today's shooting makes perfectly clear, Idaho shares Montana's intolerance for native bison."

Fewer than 3,000 native wild bison exist in the United States, all inhabiting areas in and around Yellowstone National Park. Since 2000, under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, more than 3,500 members of this population have been killed at a heavy cost to taxpayers. The purported reason for the slaughter is to prevent the transmission of brucellosis, a European livestock disease. Wild bison have never transmitted brucellosis to cattle and it is not possible for bulls, like the one killed today, to transmit the disease.

Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, every day, to stop the slaughter of the wild American buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo and their habitat and advocate for their lasting protection. For more information, video footage of today's operation, and photos visit: Buffalo Field Campaign (http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org).

Top of Page