Plan to Kill Yellowstone Bison Dropped

HELENA, Mont. —  The National Park Service agreed Thursday to drop plans to shoot bison in Yellowstone National Park this spring as part of a livestock disease research project.

The Fund for Animals announced the agreement, calling it a major victory that will save 22 bison from execution.

Federal rangers shot three pregnant bison on Monday for a study of whether brucellosis, an infectious disease that causes domestic livestock to abort their young, can be transmitted from bison. The project called for killing 25 bison to obtain tissue samples for testing.

The killings were delayed when U.S. District Judge George Revercomb in Washington granted the animal-rights group a hearing on its request for a temporary restraining order.

Park spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo said that because of the court action, and Monday’s public opening of the park in northwest Wyoming, officials decided they had missed their best opportunity to kill pregnant bison and obtain tissue samples.

Brucellosis infects large numbers of the estimated 3,000 bison in Yellowstone. Earlier testing found that 54% of the park’s northern herd had at least been exposed to brucellosis bacteria. But park officials said the lab tests are essential to determining how many animals actually carry the disease and are infectious.

Montana ranchers contend that the diseased bison are a threat to their livestock industry.