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Another 50 bison sent to slaughter

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

The last 50 bison captured in Yellowstone National Park have been shipped to slaughter, spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews said Monday.


 That work was completed Friday and brought the total number of dead bison this winter up to 264. No more bison were captured over the weekend.

The National Park Service is holding another 198 animals that have tested negative for exposure to brucellosis.

Those bison will be kept until there is enough green grass inside the park to keep them from wandering toward private land to the north.

The last time the Park Service held bison was in 1997, and green grass didn't emerge until the middle of April.

"There are some patches of greenup in the park but it will still be a while," Matthews said Monday.

Of the dead animals, 207 had tested positive for exposure to brucellosis. The remaining 57 dead weren't tested for the disease because the Park Service ran out of room in its holding pastures northwest of Gardiner.

Approximately 100 more bison have spent much of the winter outside the park on the east side of the Yellowstone River, in the Jardine area where there aren't any cattle.

Bison in that area aren't trapped or tested as long as they don't wander too far to the north.

Ken Britton, Gardiner district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, said last week the bison in Jardine had torn up some fences but had caused no other problems that he knew of.

"I like the way that's working out up there," he said.

Wild bison aren't tolerated in areas of Montana where cattle sometimes go, under a 4-year-old plan created by the state and federal governments.

The policy was implemented even though there has never been a documented case of bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle in wild conditions. The disease causes infected animals to abort their calves and can cause lingering flu-like symptoms in people.

It is spread mostly through contact with infected birthing material, though unpasteurized milk was a source many years ago when the disease was more common. Accidental pricks from vaccination needles have infected some veterinarians and other people.

Montana's cattle herds have been certified as brucellosis free since 1985.

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