Stop the Slaughter of Yellowstone’s Buffalo

[dusty64]

ALERT # 274
Stop the Slaughter of Yellowstone’s Buffalo

DESCRIPTION:

Each winter, the buffalo that leave Yellowstone National Park to graze outside the park boundaries are harassed, captured, shot or sent to slaughter by the state of Montana’s Department of Livestock – even when they are on adjoining public lands. This year will be no different and many believe it could prove to be the deadliest winter yet. That’s because a flawed management plan allows the state of Montana and the National Park Service to kill any bison outside the park when the population exceeds 3,000 animals. With an estimated population of 4,200, it is likely that more than a 1,000 buffalo could be killed this winter and spring.

The American buffalo is a wildlife icon of the United States. Once tens of millions of buffalo roamed throughout much of the lower 48 states. By the late 19th century, just a handful of buffalo remained – all in Yellowstone National Park. The Park’s buffalo are the only animals that have continuously lived wild and free and they are genetically unique: Unlike captive ranched buffalo, which are now relatively common, Yellowstone buffalo have never interbred with cattle and have retained their wild character.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Last year, for the first time in many years, the National Park Service actively participated in the capture and slaughter of buffalo. The Park Service’s involvement prompted congressional action by Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Charles Bass (R-NH). They recently introduced legislation that protects Yellowstone’s cherished buffalo herd when they leave the park. We need you to contact your representative and ask them to support the Yellowstone Buffalo Protection Act.
http://den.defenders.org/cgi-bin/action/show.rt?274

[izzie]

1. Well we left some alive and they are breeding.

Something must be done. Their heads belong on some Texas wall over the fireplace not at home on the range. We must keep the cowboys image going.

[jsmacdonald]

2. Thank you

This is such an important issue. A lot of ignoramuses make insults about this issue because they know nothing about it. It's not just about buffalo and Yellowstone (important issues in themselves) but also an ideological and cultural battle about whether humans have the right to do whatever they want in the name of public health.

Those who have followed this issue intimately like I have note that there is no real dispute here since there are no cattle in the area, no way that these non-existent cattle can have brucellosis from Yellowstone buffalo, and no one is sure it would happen even if there were cattle there. Yet, Montana spends tons of money to fight this non-threat? They do it because they want sovereignty over their industry, and they see a slippery slope involved in letting Yellowstone buffalo reclaim some of their wilderness. If that happens, where are lines drawn? How can wilderness reclaimed ever be taken again? Since there is no economic benefit to buffalo, the idea that buffalo should have rights over this wilderness drives them nuts. (That's why elk don't face the same kind of abuse because elk are a protected economic asset).

This issue will play out over and over again. It's an issue of dominance in the interests of economic imperialism. Where have we seen that? We have seen it in Iraq. I'm here because I'm trying to organize DC people to go to New York to protest the occupation of Iraq. But, don't you all who think that issue is important lose sight of the plight of Yellowstone buffalo. The very same values are at stake, and we lose sight of that at our own peril.

Jim

[dusty64]

3. More.

Its obvious ranchers are once again dictating policy.


The Bison Disease: Brucellosis

The reason that thousands of bison have been systematically slaughtered in the Yellowstone area over the past decade can be summed up in one word: Brucellosis.

Brucellosis is a contagious disease in domestic livestock which causes stillbirths. The disease was originally transmitted to wildlife by cattle, and now is found in wild elk and buffalo of the Greater Yellowstone Area. These buffalo are being slaughtered under the guise of eliminating exposure to the disease by domestic cattle.

Brucellosis is transmitted by exposure to birth materials or by ingesting infected milk. Although there is a very small chance that buffalo bulls could transmit the bacteria to female cattle during mating, the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee stated, "...transmission from buffalo to cattle is almost certainly confined to contamination by a birth event by adult females." Therefore, non-pregnant females, calves and male buffalo pose virtually no risk of disease transmission. Yet the state of Montana kills all bulls wandering outside of Yellowstone and even shoots calves.

Human beings historically have contracted brucellosis (undulant fever) by ingesting non-pasteurized milk or careless handling of infected carcasses. Meat from infected animals can be safely eaten as long as the meat is adequately cooked. The Centers for Disease Control no longer consider brucellosis a reportable human disease. The chances of humans contracting undulant fever are extremely remote.

As for livestock, there has never been a verified case of transmission of brucellosis from a free-ranging buffalo to range cattle. In 1989, 810 cattle from 18 different herds where Yellowstone buffalo ranged were tested twice for brucellosis infection. No cattle tested positive.

The Animal-Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is charged with controlling agricultural diseases. Under APHIS's rules, if a domestic animal tests positive for exposure, the entire herd is killed. More than 3,000 (1,000 during the 1996-97 winter alone) buffalo have been killed in the Greater Yellowstone Area since 1984 for the perceived benefit of brucellosis control, despite the availability of a vaccine for cattle.

The National Wildlife Federation and the InterTribal Bison Cooperative prepared a plan to protects against the remote threats of brucellosis while ensuring the long term viability of our nation's last remaining herd of wild buffalo. The seven points of the plan are:

Establish a buffalo health certification center: Yellowstone buffalo that wander onto private lands surrounding the Park could be captured and quarantined. Negative-testing animals should then be made available for reintroduction to tribal lands.
Scientifically manage the Yellowstone area's buffalo: The agencies involved should set a population goal for the Yellowstone herd, taking into account wintering populations outside the Park. If the herd grows beyond the goal, strategic methods of herd management should be implemented outside Yellowstone.
Acquire additional winter ranges and key migration routes: To allow buffalo to migrate safely beyond Park boundaries, public/private partnership easement purchases should be made, creating a buffalo migration corridor.
Adjust cattle grazing patterns on public lands: Cattle grazing on public lands should be postponed until buffalo have calved or returned to Yellowstone or after buffalo have migrated to areas where cattle grazing is prohibited.
Vaccinate cattle consistently and routinely: A mandatory cattle vaccination program should be implemented within a "Brucellosis Management Area surrounding Yellowstone, thus greatly reducing the already negligible threat to livestock.
Develop a vaccination program inside Yellowstone: Using a vaccine delivery system that minimizes disturbance to wildlife, a brucellosis vaccination program for buffalo inside the Park should be implemented once a vaccine that is proven safe and effective for wildlife is developed.
Evaluate winter management of Yellowstone's roads: It should be determined whether Yellowstone winter road management practice encourage and assist buffalo migration. If so, viable alternatives to the current policy of plowing or packing snow-covered roads should be put into effect.
http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/bison/humaninteraction.cfm?photo=6