Bison in Yellowstone National Park are being killed by hunters and the U.S. Department of Livestock. The reason for this is because there is a management plan in place to reduce the number of bison within the park due to an overabundance. There have been bison distributed throughout the United States since the European settlers arrived. Bison were found even in the Eastern portion of the United States, but now have relatively small restricted ranges. Bison are by nature a migratory, and herding species. This means that they require a large amount of land to act as they are intended to. The bison we currently have are not pure bison. As a way to keep genetic bottlenecking from being a problem, ranchers have interbred bison with cattle.

The management plan is calling for a reduction in the Yellowstone National Park bison herd by 900-1,300 animals. The current size of the bison herd is between 5,000 and 5,500 bison in the park. The way that the U.S. Department of Livestock is removing the bison, is by public hunting and capturing the bison in pens. The captured bison are then shipped and slaughtered at butcher shops. Currently over 570 bison have been removed from the park. When the bison migrate out of the park, they are intercepted by pen traps, which collect the bison in corrals until they can be moved.

Now my opinion on this matter straddles both sides of the fence. I feel that it is very necessary to manage the bison herd in Yellowstone, because if the population gets too high, then the bison herd not only risks becoming susceptible to overcrowding and disease, but also loss of habitat. What I mean by that is since bison feed on grasses and such, they are consequences of over feeding in areas, especially for riparian zones. Riparian zones are areas that are located along waterways. One case that has been of interest, concerning this article is that of the elk feeding along these riparian zones. Elk were feeding on so much of the vegetation along creeks and rivers, that erosion began to occur. Erosion was caused by loss of root structure, which held the soil in place. This affects not just the vegetation, but also the fish in the creeks and rivers and the water quality. Since the reintroduction of wolves to the park, the elk population has been kept in check, the quality of the waterways increased, and erosion has been kept at bay.

I believe that the bison herds should be permitted to have a larger range and freely move in and out of the park without concern of being trapped. But on the other hand, I also see that it is necessary to keep control of the population of bison within the park. It’s a tough decision on what the correct method or methods are to accomplish this goal. I think that to have the bison transferred to other suitable locations where they could be used to spread the size of the bison population in the United States.

Citations

The Yellowstone Insider. Over 570 Yellowstone Bison Killed So Far This Season. Sean Reichard.   February 21, 2017. http://yellowstoneinsider.com/2017/02/21/over-570-yellowstone-bison-killed-so-far-this-season/ Accessed March 1, 2017

The Yellowstone Insider. Nearly 1000 Yellowstone Bison Killed So Far This Year. Sean Reichard. March 2, 2017. http://yellowstoneinsider.com/2017/03/02/nearly-1000-yellowstone-bison-killed-so-far-this-year/ Accessed March 1, 2017