West Yellowstone, MT- Eleven agents from the Montana Department of Livestock (MDOL), Gallatin National Forest and Yellowstone National Park hazed seven bison from the Madison River and captured them at the Horse Butte capture facility this morning. The herd consisted of two pregnant females, three yearling calves, and two yearling calves that had been previously captured, tagged and released.

The agents used snowmobiles to haze the bison, which were grazing along the bottomlands of the river about one mile west of the Yellowstone boundary. Law enforcement officers from Gallatin County and the U.S. Forest Service assisted in the operation. The bison were transported to the Duck Creek capture facility where they will be tested for brucellosis antibodies using the fluorescent polarization assay test (FPA). Those that test positive will be shipped to slaughter.

Recent correspondence between MDOL and Yellowstone Park indicate that the Park Service is concerned with DOL's change from the card test to the FPA. In a letter to the Montana State Veterinarian on March 7, 2002, Wayne Brewster, Deputy Director of the Yellowstone Center for resources stated, "During the development of the Bison Management Plan, MDOL insisted that the card test be the serological test that is used to determine whether bison are removed to slaughter or not. The cooperating agencies should be mindful that the analysis of impacts in the EIS, which Montana adopted for its Record of Decision, was predicated upon historical removal rates based on the results of the card test."

BFC has documented a higher percentage of bison going to slaughter since the change to the FPA test this winter. According to BFC spokesperson Peter Leusch, "The card test is an inaccurate test, and now the FPA has an even higher percentage of false positives. It's obvious that these bison are not being slaughtered because of brucellosis, but out of a misguided prejudice against bison in Montana."

To underscore that point, the area where the bison were grazing is never used by cattle. The Madison River is prime winter habitat for elk, moose, bald eagles, trumpeter swans, wolves, and a variety of waterfowl. The continuous disturbance by bison management operations in this area is needlessly putting all the wildlife in the area at risk.

Leusch stated, "BFC volunteers have seen several elk, a yearling moose, a great horned owl and about five trumpeter swans die along the Madison in the past two weeks. There is no doubt that the bison management activities are needlessly killing a high number of wildlife as well as bison."

The Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on and document every move made against them.

Video and still photos available.

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