Yellowstone's Bison ~ Punished for Hunger

[Zarago]

Yellowstone's Bison are being killed because they are leaving the park in search of new grazing grounds.

Why are they hungry?

This passed winter has been an extremely harsh one, their grazing grounds are not sustainable enough for a herd of bison.

What's happening now?

All bison that cross the Yellowstone border into ranch territory are being rounded up into holding pens. They will all be tested for a disease named "brucellosis", and if they prove positive, they will all be sent on a ship to slaughter.

Aren't bison endangered?

Bison are a near threataned species, and the fact that these animals are being culled for a disease that they may have will reduce their numbers even more.

The fact that elk also carry brucellosis, yet are not slaughtered as a result, reveals an inconsistency in the Montana Department of Livestock’s logic. Over 100,000 elk are allowed to roam freely in and around Yellowstone National Park’s borders. Elk hunting is also a tremendous source of revenue for the State of Montana and there would be tremendous public outcry from outfitters and the hunting public if there were a slaughter of the elk. Slaughtering the buffalo makes no sense when there is always the risk of reinfection from the elk. The real issue is the competition between buffalo and cattle public-lands forage. The livestock industry has no interest in sharing these public lands with America’s largest free-ranging herd of buffalo.

Why should we care?

Bison are an important source of food for predetors in Yellowstone. A large pack will hunt down a bison and feast on it for quite some time, which also provides a food source for bears and other scavangers.

If the bison go, that will be another food source for wolves gone. Which means that the wolves will become more hungry and venture into ranchers territory for a meal, and then the ranchers will shoot the wolves for being hungry.

What can I do to help?

Buffalo Field Campaign

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/med ... 12011.html

If you can contact Yellowstone's Acting Superintendent "Colin Campbell", please do. But if you are too young, ask your parents first.

Where can I learn more?

"Howling for Justice" article.

http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/ ... cow-altar/

Zarago

No arguments please.

[SolitaryHowl]

It's sad the Bison population has to go down. But remember, if the disease isn't stopped, then it would infect/kill most of the bison population. You don't want that, right?

Then, if predators eat any diseased bison, the disease would transfer to them and infect their species as well. So, it's important to control disease in the wild even at the cost of animal lives.

[Zarago]

It's sad the Bison population has to go down. But remember, if the disease isn't stopped, then it would infect/kill most of the bison population. You don't want that, right?

Then, if predators eat any diseased bison, the disease would transfer to them and infect their species as well. So, it's important to control disease in the wild even at the cost of animal lives.

Yes but, the reason that I am posting this up is because of the odd reason why the rarer bison are being culled, and not the elk who also carry the same disease.

Even if the bison are not infected, they are still kept in close and uncomfortable quarters and are likely to catch the disease themselves. It is inhumane in the way they are carrying out this operation.

Rounding these bison up is only making it worse for the entire species.

[Thandi]

I feel sorry for the bison population and why it is decreasing, but you have to respect the idea that some bison are infected with this disease and could be spread to others. This argument has two reasonable sides that I am both subject too.
Thank you for sharing Zarago. (:

[Kivia]

Aww. =C It really upsets me that it's had to come to this, killing bison in order to prevent the spread of this disease. I actually heard about this when I was doing research on bison, but I really wasn't focusing on the conservation status of bison at the time. I like to read up on a bunch of sources and different opinions when it comes to these sort of matters, so I'll probably do some more research in my spare time.

Thanks for sharing~

[Zarago]

If they cared about it that much, they would go into Yellowstone and capture all the bison there. But, they are only culling them for themselves, not the future of the bison.

I find it so odd and terrible that they are doing this to bison, but not to elk.

[SolitaryHowl]

I think you may have read a biased article/website that doesn't give you the entire story. There has to be more to it than this.

EDIT: I found an article that was posted yesterday. It says the culling is temporarily on hold due to lawsuits and such from conservationists.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/0 ... geNumber=1

EDIT 2: More...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110204/ap_ ... _slaughter

[Zarago]

I was not getting all the information from that one blog.

[-x-Zaroque-x-]

I think the information you've got here is good enough, but it is always nice to have an extra link to read.
I was shocked when you announced this to me, I thought this was extreamly unesassary to lead to many Bison to their death. D=

[Alpha Female]

It sad to hear the bison population is decreasing. :C
Plus the disease doesn't help the bison much. It's sad to hear they are killing the bison due to this disease, and hopefully this will stop.
Thanks for sharing.