Oh, Give Me A Home, Where The Buffalo <strike>Roam</strike>...Die
By Nicole Belle Monday Apr 28, 2008 8:00pm
CNN:
More than half of Yellowstone National Park's bison herd has died since last fall, forcing the government to suspend its annual slaughter program.
Bison's natural habitat is at high elevations, but they move lower when grass for grazing becomes scarce.
More than 700 of the iconic animals starved or otherwise died on the mountainsides during an unusually harsh winter, and more than 1,600 were shot by hunters or sent to slaughterhouses in a disease-control effort, according to National Park Service figures.
As a result, the park estimates its bison herd has dropped from 4,700 in November to about 2,300 today, prompting the government to halt the culling program early.
"There has never been a slaughter like this of the bison since the 1800s in this country, and it's disgusting," said Mike Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a group seeking to stop the slaughter program for good.
Government officials say the slaughter prevents the spread of the disease brucellosis from the Yellowstone bison to cattle on land near the park. Brucellosis can cause miscarriages, infertility and reduced milk production in domestic cattle. [..]
The USDA acknowledges that bison-to-cattle transmission is difficult to document, but it says investigations indicate that bison were the likely source of infections in cattle herds in Wyoming and North Dakota.
But critics call the culling an overreaction. There is no documented case of the disease passing from bison to cattle, they said.
Let's call this another front on the War On The Environment, shall we? Since their concerted effort to gut the Endangered Species Act last year, which included de-listing the gray wolf in February, resulting in 10 wolves being killed in Wyoming alone this month, the Bush administration has been responsible for causing at least two species (the Lake Sammamish kokanee and the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit) to become extinct. And even more are threatened as they ignore environmentalists. Further, experts are saying the construction of the ridiculous border fence is threatening to make species like jaguars, ocelots, and the Sonoran pronghorn extinct in the United States. Heckuva job, Bushie.
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We forget that we, too, are animals. This will one day cost us dearly....
Are we certain they died or are they serving overseas with Blackwater?
Oh man I'm back
I did more looking up on jaguars and ocelots. It surprised me that they could live at all in desert lands like Sonora and West Texas. I thought jaguars were jungle critters. Then again, North America once had lions, and humans are technically evolved for savannah living, not the Arctic or the Rub Al-Khali, so heckuva job indeed, Bushie!
Though Mountain lion populations are growing again...
Bison, Polar Bears and soon humans, if we keep polluting our planet we will be the way of the Dodo. Lets thank the Bush Administration for dismantling all of the environment safegaurds that keep us healthy. Bravo.
Yet another way the government subsidizes cattle ranching.
P.D. @ 5:
Oh, life will survive. The only thing is that with 6 fricking billion humans the species is almost guaranteed to leave evolutionary descendants. Perhaps regressed to the stone age and as global warming increases the interglacial warmth, returning to our old dark skin and light build, then when (if) we make it to Ice Age II, becoming Neanderthal-like again according to cold adaptations.
We don't need evidence of disease transmission to kill bison and we don't need evidence of voter fraud to suppress voting.
Evidence is so 90's.
Ive been a regular reader here for years and I wish C&L would document the "war on the environment" a little closer. There are hundreds of these types of stories and very few of them get a mention anywere. And they all have to do with a crook and/or a liar.
Bullsh-t, there has NEVER been a case documented of Bison to domesticated animals.
Let me repeat that, NEVER !
It's a way to satisfy the blood lust of the hunting crowd, and serves as income for the state of Montana. Period
Sick concept, even sicker humans.
Off topic, it turns out Wright's speech was set up by a Clinton supporter.
Los Angeles Times - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/04/wrightsetup.html
I seriously think Hillary, even though she states she wants to be President, really wants to lose against McCain. She doesn't even care she's hated, that's why she's in this race.
In the Northeast, we barely have any bees anymore. When I was a young girl, you couldn't walk across the backyard without shoes, now they are almost all gone. I find that terrifing.
P.D. @ 12:
Yeah....and if that gets any worse, out comes Mr. Natural Selection again and we're all gonna be his bitches.
Up here in Canada, The New Brunswick Gov't wants to mine uranium if there is enough to justify such an industry. It's part of their self-sustainability plan..idiots. The locals don't want Uranium dug up from the ground, but those who were elected seem to think they know what's best.
A very welcome post. The Buffalo Field Campaign is a great organization that does great work.
The annual slaughter is a national disgrace.
Hunting is a barbaric practice, no matter what Obama or Clinton say (shame on them).
I have a neighbor who thinks it is great the bees are gone. When I asked her how will the plants pollenate, she had a blank stare on her face. But then again she is a Bush supporter, they love to deny reality.
Kay @ 10:
You're right, it's usually the other way around. When Europeans introduced the domesticated horse back into its place of evolutionary origin, the horse started to spread diseases that began the long process of culling the bison, which were already in decline before our ancestors decided to kill most of the rest of them to starve the Indians.
BTW, the Grizzly once was extremely common in California. Now extinct for the same reason as bison. This tendency among us nasty bipedal apes to kill other animals is gonna bite us in the ass soon, and then we'll be reverted to different stateless grasslands populations on the various continents...
if there is a God and He likes us this time. Cuz, God's got something against the Hominin-Pan clade. Our lineage was most diverse 2-3 million years ago. We're the only survivors. Hence the comment that if there is a good God, I hope He shows mercy to the last of the Hominins.
No. 44 @ 15:
Yes, in our part of the United States it is. We have no need for it. Inuit and a few other Arctic peoples need to hunt for some time yet, until the ice melts and then they can feed off of plants like the rest of us.
Global warming's not just affecting the non-human animals in Alaska, the native human groups are suffering too.
Can't they just raise chickens instead?
vince @ 19:
Yeah, and beef and pork?
it will be nice to see this administration become extinct,
maybe sooner than later. it's time to end ignorance,
the breeding program produced two of the worse species
ever, bush and cheney.
I was brought up in a pro-gun house, although my father is a gun owner, he was never a hunter. But many of my relatives are. I don't think hunting is immoral, but I wouldn't do it. As to the fact that they hunt Bison, is it cultural? I can't see why Bison is hunted.
P.D. @ 22:
It's more that those people still haven't left the 19th Century when killing a buffalo was fine, so long as an Indian starved because of it. Montana itself is having a bit of an ecological problem for animals human and non-human, come to think of it.
Oh, I can'T wait until November when we start culling the Republicans. Hunting has outlived it's usefulness other than for survival or self protection IMO. BTW I'm not anti gun I'm a gun owner and avid target shooter.
Bison is delicious, and it is lower in cholesterol than beef.
bobswire, I am a gun owner who has a permit. I applied for it when I was 28 after a terrifing ordeal when a jack-ass almost ran me down when I was on my bike and refused to give him directions. I also survived to attempted rapes. The world indeed is a scary place.
Sadists and psychopaths (hunters, and proud members of the NRA) all start out as crooks and liars.
They don't feel or understand that others, (2 legged or four legged ) feel pain or fear.
Every major news outlet should show the actual slaughter of these park animals. All Americans should be ashamed.
There is no hell hot enough for those who extinguish life so carelessly.
Ya can't go to Yellowstone with the buffaloes you want, ya gotta go with the buffaloes you have.
That's just about enough of that. As a Montanan and a hunter, I say to you give it a rest. If you want to be relevant you are going to have to respect our culture and our values, just as we extend the same courtesy to you and yours.
That's really sad to hear...all of it.F**king assholes are running this country.But we already know that,right?It's shame some disease(criminal prosecution) or some form of culling(the election) can't rid us of this blight.
Oh,wait...I think it's coming.
And not a moment too soon.
"Pro-life" GOP set to wipe out another species.
I don't have to respect your culture or your values, Dan. Just like I don't have to respect the culture or values of Polygamists that rape children because their religion says it is ok to do so.
Sorry, unless you're a vegan, you have no right to be outraged.
Just because you're meat comes in wrapped in plastic, doesn't mean pain to an animal and damage to the environment doesn't occur.
my husband and I went to Yellowstone for our honeymoon in August of 1996. Such a beautiful place and we were so honored to see the wildlife and the landscape. Such a disgrace at the current lack of respect for nature.
Our government is so mean & stingy, it would squeeze a nickle 'til the buffalo pooted.
And then slaughter the buffalo.
oops, *nickel*
begin wingnut;
GLOBULE WARNING IZ TEH HOXE!!!1! THIS IZ PRUFE!1!!!
end wingnut;
Can I have my Scaife handout now?
P.D. @ 12:
Come to PA - they're all in my backyard this spring for some reason...
rainbird @ 33:
Sorry rainbird, but you do. The millions of men and women who hunt and fish are not polygamists or rapists, we are the first conservationsts. We put our money and time into action preserving all wildlife. To equate us with the polygamists and rapists is an abhorant and short-sighted straw man argument. As I said before, if you want to be relevant, you have to respect the millions of us Democrats in the West.
Bud Osama, they are bouncing back, but not in the way when I was young. I, myself, have devoted a large part of my garden for bees and butterflies. Maybe, we the little people can do something for our insect bretheren.
To the writer who made the comment about the federal government subsidizing ranchers, you are absolutely correct. Not only are bison being slaughtered for presumptively (not confirmed) being infected with brucellosis, but wolves are now fair game to any rifle toting redneck. It's a sickening sight to be miles in the wilderness with a backpack only to stumble into a meadow full of dumb, fat cows.
BUSH = DEATH! ban me from this site forever...but i am not a liar.
Pretty fucked up, 6+ billion culling 5k.
Says allot about the real state of affairs.
Stinking low life bastards , Bush , the entire criminal enterprise in the White House , the crooked right wing judges and the friggin Republicans who back them up , I would love to see a Stalin style purge of all them , we and the whole world would be so much better off .
Killing Bison has absolutely nothing to do with disease. It has everything to do with the Big-Beef industry killing their competition. Bison is better quality meat than Cows. Its leaner, less hormon-injected and modified, and tastes better. Its also better for you. Im sure the cattle farmers dont want any competition, then they might have to actually raise their qaulity.
Jordan has raised the key point, bison is better quality meat and it is better for you than beef. I don't think cattle ranchers can compete with bison.
Man, millions of these beautiful beasts once roamed North America.
And what did the white man do? Kill an animal that was perfectly suited for survival in the harshest climates and replace it with something that was not.
With roughly only 5000 of these left, in one year the population dwindles by half and Yellowstone park spokesman start spinning its no big deal?
Uh huh.
More than half of Yellowstone National Park’s bison herd has died since last fall, forcing the government to suspend its annual slaughter program.
LOOK... ANOTHER REPUBLICAN SAVINGS... WE DONT HAVE TO KILL THEM, THEY ARE DYING ON THEIR OWN.....
FOR FURTHER BENEFITS OF A REPUBLICAN....
.....ALL THE SOLDIERS WHO WILL NOT NEED RETIREMENT PAY
.....ALL THE SICKLY WHO WILL NEVER NEED MORE MEDICAL CARE
GO GO GOP.... IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO KEEP TAKING CARE OF ALL THEM SICK FOLKS
Kay @ 10:
Absolutely right, Kay. THe sadly ironic thing is that elk (which are abundant in/around Yellowstone) also carry brucellosis and have even been documented transmitting it to cattle (how I don't know, maybe sharing needles.) But no one is proposing full scale slaughter of them like they are bison.
For clarity's sake: it's the Montana state government that's allowing the slaughter. The National Park Service disagrees with Montana, but once the bison step out of Yellowstone NP, one can simply go up to them and fire point blank into the bison's head.
Such a great "sport!"
General_Rennenkampf @ 23:
Quite true; the killing of bison in the mid-to-late 1800s was a government program designed to ruin the way of life of the plains Indians, to force them onto reservations.
P.D. @ 16:
That blank stare is a republican trying to process a logical thought. It takes a few moments, but eventually the "does not compute" look returns, and they go about their merry way.
Matt in Texas @ 50:
Just to clarify the clarification: bison "management" in the Yellowstone area is under an agreement hammered out between the Park Service and the state of Montana, which has been stretched beyond recognition by Montana. For reasons that are clear to no-one, wild bison issues are not handled by MT Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, but by the MT Department of Livestock.
Brucellosis causes bison (and cattle) to abort, and is transmitted by contact with aborted fetuses and afterbirths. Various easements and land trades have phased out cattle grazing in the area almost entirely, to provide a buffer zone for bison leaving the Park to find food in the winter (in any case, the bison are long gone back to the higher altitudes of the Park, or at least have long since calved, before cattle are grazing anywhere near there). But the DOL continues to behave as if cattle were at risk.
The bison hunt is creepy and wrong, but in context, it's barely an issue. It's a short-season, highly controlled hunt; hunters need licences and tags. "Hunting" an animal that mostly just stands around in groups is pretty stupid, but it's way reasonable compared to what the DOL does. Basically, they either "haze" bison back into the park, or, usually, simply capture them and send them to slaughter, without even testing them for disease (and remember, the male bison can't transmit brucellosis). Many, many more bison are killed by the DOL than by hunters. Blaming hunters does nothing to address the actual problem here.
Now the frosting on this cake of cruelty and irresposibility is that everyone knows that elk, which roam freely over rangeland, can, do, and have transmitted brucellosis to cattle. Elk are the Typhoid Marys of brucellosis, but nobody wants to acknowledge that because elk are a trophy quarry and too many people, from subsistence hunters to trophy hunters, outfitters, commercial hunting-oriented interests, would be affected by any attempt to control elk. In the Greater Yellowstone area, elk are very important to the local economy. And remember, there are still a lot of people around here who depend on hunting to feed their families.
There is no dependable vaccine for brucellosis, although some new ones for both elk and bison are being tested, and many cattle are vaccinated with what's presently available. Without a vaccine, the brucellosis issue is just too scary for too many interests to be treated rationally. Without a doubt, though, bison must be removed from the control of the DOL and put under FWP, who will at least treat them like wild animals.
Soon, very soon, the human population will drop drastically. We rely on fossil fuels so much that when we lose them, and we are, we humans will fall back to a more manageable level. It's too bad that the innocent (children/poor) will suffer the brunt of this. On the plus side, there will be many billionaires with worthless portfolios afterwards, so they will be the "New Poor"..hehehe...serves them right.
It is my understanding, although I may be mistaken, but one important factor here is that brucellosis kills only the first calf, ussually in the womb, of the cow infected. This limits one years production. Calving following the initial infection can be difficult, but often is normal, rendering the herd immune to future infections. Thus, this is not about brucellosis control, but about grazing land control and limited resources. Flanking pasture lands are federal lands also. Does anyone else smell the bullshit?
Why is it that some human beings do not recognize our connection to other animals, even though they may be four-legged and furry? Seriously, as animals go (become extinct), so too goes the human bi-ped.
Global warming my ass. Temperatures are dropping everywhere, but the media doesn't report that, because it's supposed to be getting hotter.
j @ 6:
Please name all the ways the govt subsidizes the cattleman.
Jordan @ 46:
If bison are the answer and better for you than beef why doesnt it move at more than a snails pace in the store? Fewer and fewer cattle are fed hormones as thats what the consumer demands. If you dont care for the quality of American beef you could always live in Europe and eat horse. There's always a supply of fresh feline in the Orient.
doesn't everyone know? shooting buffalo and wolves makes your dick bigger, even if you're doing it from two hundred yards with a scoped rifle.
Rocky @ 57:
or climate change, whatever--- what else does professor Limbaugh whisper in your ear- and what about all these fucking tornadoes and these spring winds that don't stop?
Clearly, our nation is being over-grazed and devastated by the genetically-deficient Republican/Christian herd. What are we to do?
brians @ 59:
Shut the fuck up you right wing moron
c. atrox @ 62:
If only stupidity was fatal the herd would cull itself
Keep in perspective that they are only talking about the Yellowstone herd. There are herds all over the nation, thankfully. There are many more than 2,300 bison left in the country. Do you really think that there would be bison burgers in Costco and at numerous burger joints across Montana if there were only 2,300 bison left in the nation?
Veggie eaters will obviously disagree, but if you want to save bison in the long run, turn it into a food product. Think the damned cow will ever go extinct? Unfortunately, it will not. Supply & demand. If you want to see more bison herds, support bison ranchers and not cowboys. And, bison ranchers have regulations that prohibit some of (if not all of) the hormones & crap they pump into beef.
If you really think that bison are easy to hunt, talk to someone who has tried. Or, like rainbird, you can continue to live in fear of "sadists and psychopaths" who own or use guns (your law enforcement personnel, your military members, your national guard, your FBI agents, your neighbors, etc.). Veggie butchering hypocrite.
I DON'T KNOW IF THIS WILL HELP OR NOT,BUT MY FATHER WAS A LARGE ANIMAL VETERINARIAN IN IOWA AND WE TESTED THOUSANDS OF CATTLE FOR BRUCELLOSIS, SOMETIMES IN THE OLDEN DAYS CALLED UNDULANT FEVER. IT WAS AND STILL IS A MAJOR GOVERNMENT PROGRAM TO ERADICATE THE DISEASE STATE BY STATE. ONE YEAR THE STATE OF IOWA DECIDED TO RUN A BIG TEST TO SEE IF DEER SPREAD IT TO CATTLE. THEY HAD ALL THE FARMER-HUNTERS IN IOWA TURN IN THE HEARTS TO THE LOCAL VETS. WE TOOK A BLOOD SAMPLE FROM EACH AND OF COURSE DINED ON TASTY DEER HEARTS FOR A LONG TIME. NO BRUCELLOSIS WAS FOUND IN DEER, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF SIMILAR TESTING AND CULLING WAS DONE IN MONTANA, ALTHOUGH I KNOW OF SOME BUFFALO HERDS THAT HAVE BEEN TESTED IN OTHER STATES. I DO KNOW I DON'T WANT TO BE THE COWBOY TO ROUND UP AND TEST A WIOLD HERD OF BUFFALO.
BEEN THERE AND DONE IT WITH A SMALLER HERD. I'LL PASS NEXT TIME.
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