Buffaloed on May 21st 2008
Dear Buffalo Friends,
Nine bull bison are currently in the Duck Creek bison trap, located just outside of Yellowstone’s western boundary. The Department of Livestock says they intend to send these bulls to slaughter.
According to an email received from Yellowstone National Park today, “The park’s current best estimate for the bison population remains between 2300 and 2100, with the lower end of that estimate probably being the most realistic.”
This drastic blow to the bison is a result of a combination of intense slaughter, hunting, quarantine, winter kill and highway mortalities, and the population cannot sustain any more slaughter.
URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED if we are to save the lives of these bulls. Please contact the following Montana decision-makers and urge them to let the bulls go!
* Marty Zaluski, Montana State Vet #406-444-0782
* Hal Harper, Governor Schweitzer’s Chief Policy Advisor #406-444-5546
* Mike Volesky, Governor Schweitzer’s Policy Advisor for Natural Resources #406-444-7857
In mid-April, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer announced in a press conference that NO MORE buffalo would be sent to slaughter this season. A few days later, the DOL sent three bull bison to their deaths. Due to the winter’s severe slaughter and the uncertainty of winter kill bison, the population may well be below 2,100. Under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, the agencies are supposed to use non-lethal methods when the population is at or below 2,100 animals.
We must INSIST THAT THEY DO NOT SLAUGHTER THESE BULLS!
Please spread the word to save the herds! Contact the decision-makers above, and please send this email to all your friends, family, colleagues and co-workers. We stopped the slaughter of 300 bison last year, and we can save the lives of these nine bulls if we keep the pressure on.
Roam Free!
Buffalo Field Campaign
Filed in Brucellosis, Buffalo, Montana Department of Livestock, National Park Service, Politicians, Yellowstone Buffalo | One response so far
Buffaloed on May 13th 2008
The Park Service just released this press release indicating that the buffalo on Horse Butte will be hazed during the peak of calving season even though there are NO cattle on Horse Butte and there NEVER will be. The first cattle to arrive generally don’t arrive until mid-June but with the extended winter it is unlikely that cattle will arrive to the area until after all of the buffalo have given birth and are no longer able to transmit brucellosis.
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See Press Release Below
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Filed in Brucellosis, Buffalo, Montana Department of Livestock, National Park Service, Yellowstone Buffalo | 3 responses so far
Buffaloed on May 8th 2008
In this issue:
* Buffalo Kill Tally
* Update from the Field
* Buffalo Field Campaign Needs Summer Volunteers
* Upcoming Events for the Buffalo
* Montana Food Bank Speaks to Bison Meat Acquisition
* Documentary: The Bison Haze: A Yellowstone Controversy
* Special Thank You TO JANE GOODALL AND JACKSON BROWNE
* Last Words
* BFC Contact Info & Important Links
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AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2007-2008 Total: 1,604
2007-2008 Slaughter: 1,438
2007-2008 Hunt: 166
2007-2008 Quarantine: 112
Total Since 2000: 3,669*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts
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* Update from the Field
Dear Buffalo Friends,
The road through Yellowstone is now open to cars. In years past, during this season, on a drive through the park you would be hard pressed not to see several hundred buffalo and many newborn calves. This season, people who have taken this drive have felt as if they were in a ghost town. As barb, BFC’s office coordinator, reports: “Darrell and i spent many hours [last Friday] in Yellowstone driving from the west gate to Old Faithful, counting buffalo. The news is not good. In that 30 mile stretch we saw fewer than 200 buffalo total! In 14 years of living in Montana and spending lots of time at this time of the year in the park, I’ve never seen less than several hundred buffs in the meadows at Mary Mountain trail head; [Friday] we counted 41 with only 4 calves … and that was the largest herd we saw all day.”
On April 11, the Park Service estimated that there were fewer than 2,145 bison left. This figure does not account for winterkill, which is ongoing and will continue through most of May. Just yesterday we learned that Yellowstone captured once again. Another seventeen bull buffalo are in the Stephens Creek trap. Under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, when the bison population reaches 2,300 animals, they “may” slaughter, but when it reaches 2,100 animals they “shall” cease to slaughter. Given the April estimate and winterkill underway, it is critical to ask the Park what population threshold they are operating under. We can save the lives of these bulls. Please call the Park and ask them to do so: 307-344-2013.
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Filed in Brucellosis, Buffalo, Events, Montana Department of Livestock, National Park Service, Yellowstone Buffalo | No responses yet
