Yellowstone’s bison would Benefit from Our Proposed “SRPZ”
Bison, just like Wolves, need to be respected for the place they hold in Traditional Native American Cultural Practices. We are calling on all to Join Us as One Voice to begin righting the wrongs that have been handed our Children’s Resources.
Yellowstone Bison, Wolves, Grizzlies Elk, Deer will all benefit from our proposed “Sacred Resource Protection Zone” It is past time for all Organizations to Join as One Voice using research that they may not be able to use or have on their own.
BILLINGS, Mont. — US wildlife officials rejected petitions Thursday to protect Yellowstone National Park’s storied bison herds but pledged to consider more help for two other species — a tiny, endangered squirrel in Arizona and bees that pollinate rare desert flowers in Nevada.
Wildlife advocates have campaigned for decades to halt the routine slaughter of bison migrating out of Yellowstone to reach their winter grazing grounds in Montana.
The burly animals, also known as buffalo, once numbered in the tens of millions before overhunting reduced them to just a few small herds.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service rebuffed calls for special protections for Yellowstone bison in 2015 but was forced to reconsider under a US District Court order issued last year.
Wildlife service spokeswoman Jennifer Strickland said there’s no scientific information showing bison should be treated as a threatened species.
The park’s slaughter program, along with hunting of the animals in Montana, is meant to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis, which can cause bison, elk and cattle to abort their young.
“The overall numbers of bison are stable despite culling and the presence of brucellosis,” Strickland said, adding that the park has as many bison as it can hold.
Darrell Geist with the Buffalo Field Campaign said the government’s decision ignored the fact that one of the park’s two major bison herds has been in steep decline, which Geist said could have implications for the herd’s genetic health.
The so-called central herd declined from more than 3,500 animals in 2006 to 847 in 2017, according to park biologists. Yellowstone’s northern herd grew from about 1,500 bison to almost 4,000 over that time period.
Source: Squirrels, bees could get US aid but not Yellowstone’s bison