Yellowstone’s bison herd is back near record levels after officials authorized the killing of more than 1,000 animals two years ago.
The herd is now 800 animals higher than it was a year ago according to Cory Hatch in the Jackson Hole Guide and News. Yellowstone officials say it is considered the largest in the world.
Yet the controversy over its drive to migrate out of the park keeps animal rights activists and environmentalists in a perpetual public relations campaign. And Montana’s livestock industry stands at the front lines fighting to protect its brucellosis-free status.
Brucellosis, which causes cows to abort their calves, is endemic in the Yellowstone bison herd. Right now about the only way to get rid of it would be to eliminate the herd.
I covered the issued in the 1980s and 1990s and it’s just like so many of the wildlife issues we all live with in the West. The human form of brucellosis is called Bang’s Disease and it is very painful. In the 1990s, several of state veterinarians who were fighting to keep Yellowstone’s herd away from their cattle had suffered through it.
To them, the issue was personal.
Winter use has contributed to the bison problems because snowmobile trails plowed through the part have allowed once isolated populations to move around and roam out of the park. But the main issue is the herd just keeps growing.
The bison issue, much like the current wolf debate is no longer about keeping these animals from winking out. It’s about where are we going to tolerate them.
It’s not going away soon.