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Where Will The Buffalo Roam? Bison and Brucellosis

© Connie Troutman

I've spent a great deal of time traveling into Yellowstone Park and throughout Montana admiring wildlife. I've spent many hours watching, trying to understand their way of life, writing poetry, and taking photos of these amazing animals. I do understand where both sides are coming from. This article focuses on the bison and brucellosis. The winters in Yellowstone can be deadly and when food can't be found, bison wander in search for survival. Unfortunately, when this search ends on the other side of the line, the outcome is...death.

The animal activists have great concerns about the welfare and decreasing numbers of buffalo herds. The ranchers also have a great concern as raising livestock is there way of life and source of income. The state fears economic devastation.

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease (Brucella abortus) which causes cows to abort their calves and causes undulant fever in humans. The chances are slim for bison or elk to transmit this disease. To date, there have been no cases of transmission of brucellosis from wildlife to cattle. So, why the uproar between activists, ranchers, and the government? "The slaughter" is a fair answer.

In the early 1800s about 60 million bison roamed freely. Today, only about 2,000 have survived. Over 1,100 bison in 1996-1997 had been destroyed or sent to slaughter houses by the Montana Department of Livestock because of the fear that these animals will infect nearby ranchers livestock when the bison wander out of the Greater Yellowstone Area.

What Montana fears is the Federal Government. Cattle sales would be non-existent.The Department of Agriculture has threatened to revoke the brucellosis-free status if one diseased buffalo enters the state.

As part of a Bison Interim Plan, the Montana DOL and the Park Service are allowed to kill up to 100 bison that they fear pose a risk to Montana cattle. Read the decision on Dec. 17, by Federal District Judge Charles C. Lovell.

You can read some quotes taken from an issue of National Parks. One of the quotes states that a majority of the bison destroyed in 1997 tested sero-negative to brucellosis, meaning they did not have it and did not have to die. On January 21, 1998, the killings began again. This article describes the luring of buffalo out of Yellowstone Park. As a hunter, I wonder what would happen if I lured a bull elk out of the park? I would be a hunter no more and the fines would be massive.