30 Yellowstone bison sent to slaughter without brucellosis testing

BILLINGS – Roughly 30 bison captured near the western border of Yellowstone National Park were shipped to slaughter without being tested for the disease brucellosis, a state livestock official said Wednesday.

Marc Bridges, executive director of the state Department of Livestock, said authorities had to set up a portable trap and plow through deep snow to get to the bison Tuesday. He said officials had tried to haze the animals but deemed them “unhazable.”

Hazing and capture of bison are allowed under a state-federal management plan that’s aimed at reducing the potential spread of brucellosis from bison to cattle in Montana. Brucellosis is found in the Yellowstone bison herd, and the disease can cause cows to abort. Activists contend there’s no proof of bison spreading brucellosis to cattle in the wild.