Killing Of Wandering Bison To Continue Montana Worried Roaming Buffalo Will Spread Disease To Cattle

The slaughter of buffalo that wander out of Yellowstone National Park apparently will continue: The bison management plan probably won’t be ready this year, state and federal officials say.

That means Montana Department of Livestock gunners will continue killing the animals in the field for the rest of this winter.

Federal and state shooters killed 34 bison near West Yellowstone Monday and 16 Tuesday, acting Department of Livestock Director Marc Bridges said Tuesday. They have killed 285 since Oct. 4, and more than 200 bison remain outside the park in the area.

Some of the bison carry brucellosis, a disease that causes cattle to abort their calves. Cattle producers fear the buffalo will infect domestic herds and cost the state its hard-won brucellosis-free status, requiring expensive testing and other restrictions.

The proposed management plan calls for corralling bison and testing them for brucellosis. Bulls and nonpregnant cows that test negative in the West Yellowstone area would be ear-tagged and released. All other captured bison would be shipped to slaughterhouses.

State and federal officials had hoped to implement the new plan this winter, but a combination of bureaucratic process and bad weather makes that unlikely.

Tuesday’s carcasses were donated to Indians from Washington and North Dakota.

State law requires the carcasses be donated to Indian tribes or charities, Bridges said.