Wandering bison could be slaughtered

HELENA – Montana livestock officials say they will likely try one more time to haze a renegade group of 300 bison back into Yellowstone National Park, hoping to avoid the political fallout of slaughtering a group that includes as many as 80 calves born this spring.

The decision Wednesday came a day after the Board of Livestock had agreed that the bison need to be killed because the state can’t risk a second outbreak of a disease dreaded by the livestock industry.

“Nobody likes to send calves to slaughter,” said Department of Livestock executive officer Christian Mackay.

The Buffalo Field Campaign, a group that advocates for a free-roaming wild bison herd, promised that an unprecedented slaughter of so many calves would be a nightmare for state officials.

“Slaughtering little babies is not going to bode well for these agencies,” said spokeswoman Stephany Seay.

The group of bison has been hazed back into the park a number of times in the recent weeks – but they keep coming back out. Some of the calves are just a week old.

A working agreement for bison management called for them all to be back in the park by May 15, plenty of time before ranchers start putting cattle in nearby summer range in the middle of June.

Ranchers said another hazing operation makes them nervous because the bison could wander back out of the park close to the time when their cattle will be grazing in the area. Ranchers worry about cattle being near bison, which can carry brucellosis, a disease that causes cattle to abort their calves.

“I have to imagine it has a lot to do with public pressure,” said Errol Rice, executive vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association. “The Board of Livestock didn’t want to be the ones that are taking baby buffalo calves to slaughter.”