THE LAST WILD BISON
When Europeans arrived on the North American continent it is believed there were approximately 60 million bison (buffalo) roaming across the land. Now there remains only 5000 pure wild bison inside Yellowstone and they are listed as a 'near threatened’ population according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. As winter sets in on the high Yellowstone plateau the bison move out of the park where cattle ranchers see them as competition with cows for grass. Montana sued Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and won and every winter hundreds of bison are hunted or sent to slaughter to appease the state’s ranching industry. State and park officials cite the transmission of brucellosis which causes cows to abort as the reason that bison should not be allowed roam outside of the national park, yet there has never been a recorded transmission of the disease from bison to cattle. The disease exists because European cattle brought it with them. Research over the years concluded that the main spreader of disease in the ecosystem are in fact elk and yet elk are free to roam.
As of 2023 almost 14000 wild bison including pregnant females have been slaughtered, hunted, died in traps or quarantine facilities as part of the Yellowstone Bison Management plan overseen by Yellowstone National Park, the state of Montana, state and tribal hunters.
See my in depth story with words and photos published in New Scientist magazine here.
