Wyoming Bison Update Late November 1997
Most of the attention on the bison slaughter/cattle/brucellosis controversy has been focused on Montana, but it is important to consider Wyoming which has already been punished by the federal agency APHIS because there are brucellosis-infected elk and bison where the cattle roam. As a result, cattle in six NW Wyoming counties are supposed to be quarantined and tested before shipment out of the area.

Recent News

No evidence of brucellosis exposure in GTNP
Testing of 2000 cattle that graze inside Grand Teton National Park yielded no cattle with brucellosis or exposure (anti-bodies) to brucellosis. This is despite the fact that they come in close contact with the elk. NW Wyoming elk have a higher "positive" test rate for brucellosis than do Yellowstone bison.

Governor Geringer wants Elk Refuge elk calves vaccinated
Wyoming's Governor, Jim Geringer, has asked that Wyoming Game and Fish personnel be allowed to vaccinate elk calves this winter on the National Elk Refuge at Jackson. The only vaccine available is strain 19, which was developed for cattle. It is about 60 to 75% effective with cattle, and not effective at all with bison.

The National Elk Refuge is run by the U.S. government and Wyoming must have permission to vaccinate. In recent years, Wyoming Game and Fish as vaccinated more 38,000 elk that winter on state elk feedgrounds. The Jackson Hole Guide reported that 30% of these elk test positive for brucellosis as compared to 38% on the National Elk Refuge where an additional 12 to 14-thousand elk winter.

Governor Geringer says the vaccine is safe and effective on elk. Federal officials and conservation groups said the procedure is not cost effective and by concentrating the elk so they can be vaccinated is more likely to spread the disease from the infected to the non-infected elk.  Franz Camanzind of the Jackson Hole Alliance was quoted in the Jackson Hole Guide as saying it "would be a waste of resources to try to vaccinate on the widespread basis with little scientific evidence backing up the claim that the vaccine works." He said, "to do that is to acquiesce to the APHIS line of thinking that we have to do something even if it's wrong."

Brucellosis in elk and bison appears to cause no pathology, unlike cattle where it causes miscarriage and in moose where it is as fatal disease.

Other than complaining about the lack of vaccination on the National Elk Refuge, a spokesperson for Wyoming Game and Fish praised the management of elk there. The Refuge recently shifted from feeding the elk hay to pellets because it was believed that this concentrated the elk less, reducing the ability for the disease to spread.

It is my observation that Governor Geringer is more likely trying to show APHIS that Wyoming is doing something rather than any deep-seated belief that strain 19 is effective.

I should note that strain 51 is undergoing tests with the hope that it will be more effective on bison and elk.

There have been no requests by APHIS to shoot the elk as the bison have been slaughtered in Montana at the Yellowstone NP boundaries. Most observers think this is because the elk have a huge constituency among elk hunters.