Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Yellowstone bison population halved

|
|
 
  
American bison graze in a lush meadow in Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming, July 29, 2006. (UPI Photo/A.J. Sisco) 
License photo
Published: April 29, 2008 at 5:30 PM
Advertisement

GARDINER, Mont., April 29 (UPI) -- U.S. wildlife officials say they've stopped culling wild bison in Yellowstone National Park because the herd's population has fallen by half.

The government program was aimed at killing free-roaming bison infected with brucellosis, a disease that affects fertility in cattle. But the culling, combined with hunting, disease and starvation brought on by a harsh winter, caused the herd's population to drop precipitously from 4,700 last November to 2,300 now, CNN reported Tuesday.

Hunting and wildlife management programs alone accounted for more than 1,600 of the reduction, CNN said.

Bison were hunted to near extinction in the 19th century and Yellowstone has the last uninterrupted wild herd in the lower 48 states, though there are a few other wild herds.

The U.S. Agriculture Department estimates half the bison in Yellowstone are infected with brucellosis. Wildlife managers say a spread of the disease to cattle would have a ripple effect in the beef industry.

But Mike Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign supports the halt to the culling program.

"There has never been a slaughter like this of the bison since the 1800s in this country and it's disgusting," he told CNN.

Wildlife officials limited the culling program to infected bison during the winter and shelved further programs until this summer.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Survey indicates women enjoy the best sex of their lives when they reach 28, men at 33. After that,...
As one of the only folks wearing clothing in the nudist resort, Hodges was easily spotted by deputies...
If you have to cross the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on a regular basis, you probably should...
Anonymous resident of one of New York's trendiest neighborhood puts notes on light poles informing...
You know that sugar scrub you see offered on backpage? Turns out they are real things. Subby thought...
Semi hauling toilet paper tips over on highway. Fark puns taken off the endangered species list