Yellowstone bison species decision questioned by US judge

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revisit part of its decision not to protect Yellowstone National Park’s bison as an endangered species.

The Buffalo Field Campaign and Western Watersheds Project groups have been fighting since 2014 to have Yellowstone’s bison declared endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

They have argued that two separate groups of bison in the park are genetically distinct. Rather than set a population limit of 3,000 animals for the entire park, they said, the limit should be 3,000 for each herd, or 6,000 overall.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, citing a different study, has argued that the herds are not genetically distinct and rejected the listing petition in 2019, the Billings Gazette reported.



FILE - A mother bison leads her calf through deep snow toward a road in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., on Feb. 20, 2021. In January 2022, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revisit part of its decision not to protect Yellowstone National Park's bison as an endangered species. Buffalo Field Campaign and Western Watersheds Project have been fighting since 2014 to have Yellowstone's bison declared endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. (Ryan Dorgan/Jackson Hole News & Guide via AP, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/science-travel-lifestyle-wildlife-parks-f88cf5d242e6c507894e833e4b892477

[NickB79]

1. The park can't sustain 6,000 bison

It's already showing signs of serious overgrazing at 5,000 head.

We're going to need a bigger park.

https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/04/13/study-says-yellowstones-bison-are-exerti.asp

[Ford_Prefect]

2. They have begun to move portions of the herds to other locations, part of a plan to repopulate

herds in other locations. One such was in Montana where they moved a small group of Bison to a range under Native American supervision. I believe more such moves are planned pending how well the 1st group fares.

*************************************
https://defenders.org/newsroom/28-bison-transferred-yellowstone-fort-peck

WOLF POINT, MONT. JANUARY 13, 2022
Twenty-eight Yellowstone bison were released today at the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, marking the sixth successful transfer from Yellowstone National Park to the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Fort Peck since 2019. The transfer program is supported by Defenders of Wildlife and has resulted in the transfer of 182 bison to restore populations on tribal lands.
*********************************
Defenders of Wildlife began working with the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation on bison restoration in 1999, partnering with the tribes to secure state and federal political support and by contributing financially to the effort. In 2019, the Fort Peck Tribes, Yellowstone National Park, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and State of Montana, with support from Defenders of Wildlife and others created the Bison Conservation Transfer Program to divert disease-free Yellowstone bison from slaughter to tribal-led restoration efforts. Since the program began, these bison have been transferred to tribes across the country, including 56 bison transferred to the Yakama Nation in Washington and Modoc Nation in Oklahoma in December.

Following their relocation to Fort Peck, bison remain in quarantine pastures for one year before final testing for brucellosis—a disease found in some bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area. After the final brucellosis tests at Fort Peck, they are made available for translocation to other tribal nations, aiding with the continuing restoration of the species throughout its historic range. Previously, due to Yellowstone’s bison population limit, these bison—whether brucellosis positive or negative—were indiscriminately sent to slaughter.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. Best solution, I think.

Populate other locations and allow natural predation to keep the population in check.

[Ford_Prefect]

4. Natural predation is unfortunately un-supportable. Far too few natural predators for bison.

However the tribes can hunt and cull herds as needed. SO much will depend on how well the relocated animals manage in the open ranges outside Yellowstone. One test will be how well they tolerate dry conditions and heat stress on the Reservation lands.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. I defer to your better knowledge on this issue.

[Calista241]

6. Yeah, I don't think even Mountain Lions would be consistent predators for live Bison. n/t

[2naSalit]

7. But wolves will.

The Molly's Pack, from the early years after reintroduction, set up their range in the Pelican Valley of the park and since there weren't any elk but plenty of bison, they took to feeding on bison regularly. They work hard and sometimes they get their asses kicked but they do feed on them. To manage numbers like there are in the park, would take a number of predators including bears and lions.

The problem is that humans have claimed too much of the habitat many wild animals need.

[pazzyanne]

11. + 1 nt

[Ford_Prefect]

8. Wolves used to be one of them but as we know wolves are barely tolerated in their limited reserves.

Governor Gianforte of Montana has been adamant about allowing hunting wolves and grizzlies for trophies. So we cannot count on reproducing the range as it once was.

One important feature of expanding the herds into the lands they once roamed is that bison suit the conditions of that environment far better than the domestic cattle who have grazed there. One hope for the future of a changing planetary ecosystem is that some of the creatures native to the land may prove valuable to humans surviving that ongoing change. Bison do not require the kinds of supportive feeding needed by domestic cattle and are not as hard on the rangelands grasses or the surface of the prairies.

[NickB79]

9. Humans have been their natural predator in North America for 10,000 yr

I'm free with the tribes hunting them for meat.

[littlemissmartypants]

12. Fun fact: brucellosis is also found in milk cows making it

a not too smart idea to drink only "fresh" out of the cow milk. Some of the natural/organic food proponents declare this as more healthy when ingesting unpasteurized milk increases the risk infection.

Brucellosis can also be diagnosed in sheep, goats, dogs and pigs. Importantly, brucellosis in cattle can be a source of danger to humans, being transmitted in case of contact of the latter with a sick animal or through the consumption of milk and meat from infected livestock or even the inhalation of the bacterium.

❤pants

[turbinetree]

10. Thank you for this post OS....Please donate to the ........

https://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/