50 bison transported from YNP

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (2) – 2/11/21

It’s not only humans who are under quarantine these days—50 bison, transferred from Yellowstone National Park last week to the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, are completing their quarantine period before they are released and slaughtered by tribal members. This is the fifth transfer since April of 2019 and is a part of an ongoing effort to reduce bison populations in the park and divert disease-free bison to tribe-led restoration efforts.

“Thanks to these efforts, more than 16 tribes have started cultural herds with animals from Yellowstone, descendants of the wild bison that once roamed the prairie in the millions,” Chamois Andersen told the Billings Gazette. Andersen is the senior Rockies and Plains representative for Defenders of Wildlife, an organization that helps with the tribe’s restoration program.