For Immediate Release, February
13, 2006
Contact Stephany Seay (406) 726-5555
GARDINER, MONTANA. On Friday,
February 10, the National Park Service (NPS) captured 193 buffalo
inside Yellowstone National Park and plans to slaughter them all,
bringing the number captured in the last month to 865 and the number
killed to 779. 86 calves were sent to the Corwin Springs quarantine
facility earlier this year. As in January, Montana has refused to
transport the buffalo to slaughterhouses, prompting involvement from
the US Department of Homeland Security.
"Yellowstone officials are
blatantly ignoring the will of the American people by slaughtering,
rather than protecting, wild bison," said Stephany Seay of the wild
bison advocacy group Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC). "Destroying
nearly 800 of the country's last native wild buffalo to appease one
small cattle ranch should be a punishable crime."
Some of the bison captured by the Park Service migrated onto or near
the Royal Teton Ranch, owned by the Church Universal and Triumphant
(CUT). The ranch is located within North America's largest wildlife
migration corridor directly adjacent to Yellowstone's northern
boundary. In 1999 U.S. taxpayers spent $13 million on conservation
easements to allow wild bison to access these lands. The government
never finalized the deal.
Fear that bison may transmit brucellosis to the CUT cattle is the
purported reason for the slaughter. There has never been a
documented case of wild bison transmitting brucellosis to domestic
livestock. Bulls, calves, and non-pregnant cow bison pose no risk
of transmitting brucellosis. None of the adult bison slaughtered
this year were first tested for brucella antibodies.
Wild bison are a nomadic
species native to North America and once numbered 45 million. Today
there are less than 4,500 wild bison in America, all members of the
Yellowstone herd.
Under the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), wild bison are
largely confined to Yellowstone National Park, which lacks adequate
winter range. The Plan was set up to protect and maintain a wild,
free-roaming population of Yellowstone bison while maintaining
Montana's brucellosis-free status. However, even decades prior to
the Plan's inception there has never been a documented case of wild
bison transmitting brucellosis back to cattle. Under the Plan bison
are prevented from carrying out their natural migration, which
alters their behavior and erodes their wildness. BFC opposes the
Plan and advocates for more sensible, livestock-based risk
management, including fencing and vaccination of domestic cattle in
Montana.
"It suddenly seems that bison are safer in Montana than they are in
Yellowstone National Park," said Mike Mease of the BFC "In
surprising contrast to the Park Service, Governor Schweitzer has
recently shown some tolerance for bison." Mease was referring to
Schweitzer's orders last week that the Montana Department of
Livestock release nine bison captured near West Yellowstone.
"Yellowstone officials ought to be ashamed," said Mease. "An agency
mandated to protect wildlife has no business slaughtering the
buffalo," he said.
Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field,
everyday, to stop the slaughter of the wild Yellowstone buffalo.
Volunteers defend the buffalo on their native habitat and advocate
for their protection. BFC video footage and photos are available
upon request and may be viewed at
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org