More bison captured; some sent to slaughter

BILLINGS – Authorities captured another 105 bison at Yellowstone National Park on Thursday as officials shipped to slaughter two dozen animals captured a day earlier, a park spokesman said.

Al Nash said about 290 bison still are being held inside the park’s northern border at the Stephen’s Creek capture site and that they all would go to slaughter without being tested for the disease brucellosis. Twenty-four bison were shipped off Thursday, he said.

Meanwhile, at least two bison died after crashing through an icy lake just outside the park’s western boundary during hazing operations, state Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials said. State wildlife officials temporarily suspended bison hunting in that area late Wednesday to allow for the hazing of bison that ventured too far into Montana.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials said it also planned to temporarily halt the hunt north of Yellowstone to allow for hazing. The agency said the move, set to take effect late Thursday, was needed to keep stray bison away from livestock. Officials hoped to reopen that area to hunting Saturday.

The hazing or capture of wandering bison is allowed under a state-federal management plan aimed at reducing the potential spread of brucellosis from bison to cattle in Montana. Many of the park’s bison have brucellosis, as do some elk in the region; the disease can cause cows to abort, and this worries cattle ranchers.

But activists contend that there’s not been a documented case of brucellosis transmission from bison to cattle in the wild, and say the management plan is being fundamentally flawed.

“It’s a misguided attempt at managing wildlife, and the animals have done nothing but suffer,” said Stephany Seay, a spokeswoman for the West Yellowstone-based Buffalo Field Campaign.