West Yellowstone, MT- The Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) slaughtered 29 bison today without even testing them for brucellosis. The animals were captured Monday in the Duck Creek capture facility and confined for 36 hours before being shipped to slaughter. It is uncertain why the animals were held so long inside the capture facility.

Since the last week of April the DOL has slaughtered 133 bison, more than the combined kills of the previous four years. Montana hasn't slaughtered as many bison since 1996-'97, when the state killed nearly 1,100 buffalo that migrated out of Yellowstone National Park.

"The current slaughter has nothing to do with brucellosis," said Dan Brister of the Buffalo Field Campaign. "The livestock industry has zero tolerance for free-roaming buffalo and they are doing all they can to destroy the Yellowstone herd."

Today's killing brings the year's death toll to 200 buffalo. Only 67 of those (33 percent) were even tested for brucellosis antibodies. 133 Yellowstone buffalo were slaughtered this winter without being tested. Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers spent the past two nights between the Duck Creek trap and the Yellowstone boundary, working to prevent the capture of even more bison.

"We heard loud crashes throughout the night as the frightened bison banged their heads against the trap's steel walls," said BFC volunteer Christopher May. Buffalo often suffer fatal injuries inside the traps, and BFC has documented the deaths of many buffalo after their release.

"Today's slaughter is a disgrace to Montana," said Robert Sanchez, one of the activists who witnessed Monday's capture. "They captured marked buffalo--animals that were captured earlier in the winter, tested negative for brucellosis exposure, and were released."

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