3 bison activists charged in Yellowstone National Park

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – A judge has ordered three bison activists arrested in Yellowstone National Park to be detained until at least Monday.

Thomas Brown of Hardwick, Vermont; Cody J. Cyson of Minnetonka, Minnesota; and Hanna Ponder of Donnelly, Idaho, appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman at the Yellowstone Justice Center.

All three have been cited for entering a closed area, which is a misdemeanor. Brown and Cyson were also cited for interfering with agency functions after park officials said they chained themselves to a corral used to hold bison early Tuesday.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports Carman granted a federal prosecutor’s request to delay court proceedings until Monday and to detain the three defendants until then.

The three are affiliated with an advocacy group called Wild Buffalo Defense that seeks to draw attention to the slaughter of bison.