Yellowstone NP Slaughters 37 Wild American Bison

[news.omega]

Buffalo Friends,

The slaughter has begun.  Our Week of Action begins on the 14th, but please do not hesitate to contact Yellowstone National Park now.  You can call Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis at 307-344-2022 and tell her to stop the slaughter and protect, our national heritage, the last wild population of American bison.  Our press release is below.   Thank you for being with us in solidarity for the wild buffalo.

Roam Free!

BUFFALO FIELD CAMPAIGN (BFC)

P.O. BOX 957

WEST YELLOWSTONE, MT  59758

406-646-0070

bfc-...@wildrockies.org

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

 

* PRESS RELEASE*

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK SLAUGHTERS 37 OF AMERICA'S LAST WILD BUFFALO

Park Captured 41 More Sunday; 17 Calves to be Sent to Quarantine Research Facility

For Immediate Release, February 11, 2008
Contact:  Buffalo Field Campaign, Stephany Seay 406-646-0070                                      

GARDINER, MONTANA - Yellowstone National Park officials sent 37 wild American bison to slaughter this morning, without testing them for exposure to brucellosis, the supposed reason for these actions. 

On Sunday, the Park captured 41 bison; on Friday the Park captured 53, bringing the total capture since Friday to 94 wild American bison. 

17 bison calves that tested negative for brucellosis exposure are being held in the Stephens Creek bison trap, and will be sent to the Corwin Springs quarantine feasibility research facility, where they will be raised in pens like livestock. 

"The actions of Yellowstone National Park demonstrate that they are unqualified to protect the bison the nation is entrusting them with," said Stephany Seay, Media Coordinator for Buffalo Field Campaign.

These bison are members of the last wild, genetically intact population living in the United States, and number fewer than 4,600.  Most of those captured, if not all, will be sent to slaughter without being tested for brucellosis antibodies.

"The National Park Service is caving in to the unreasonable demands of Montana's livestock industry at the expense of an American icon," said Seay, "These bison are our national heritage, a keystone species critical to the ecological health of native grasslands."

The bison were captured for following their natural migratory instincts and walking onto or near habitat that is privately owned by the Church Universal & Triumphant (CUT).  CUT land hosts fewer than 250 head of cattle.   Wild bison are also refused access to publicly owned Gallatin National Forest lands adjacent to Yellowstone National Park and CUT property.  In the winter months, grasslands in the Park are obscured by deep snow and bison and other wild ungulates venture to lower-elevation habitat where they find critical forage necessary for survival.

Cattle interests claim bison capture and slaughter is necessary to prevent the spread of brucellosis from wild bison to cattle.  Brucellosis is a livestock disease introduced to native wildlife in the early 20th century.  However, there has never been a documented case of wild bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle.

Federal and State actions serving Montana's cattle interests are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of wild bison this year and the death toll is likely to rise significantly.  Tribal treaty hunts are also underway.  Bison killed or otherwise removed from the last wild population during the winter of 2007-2008:
Montana and Treaty Bison Hunts:                     112
NPS Captured (to be slaughtered/quarantined):          94

NPS Sent to Slaughter (Yellowstone North Boundary):      37

Highway mortalities (West Yellowstone):            5

"When will the Park Service understand that they are in charge of protecting our wildlife, not protecting cattle interests?" asked Mike Mease, co-founder of Buffalo Field Campaign. 

This season's harsh winter is also starting to take a toll on wild bison, who are finding it more difficult and sometimes impossible to crater through the snow to get to critical forage for survival.  Snow banks from highway snowplowing around the West Yellowstone area are making the bison's migration extremely difficult.  Bison are getting trapped along highway 191 and motor-collision mortalities are resulting.

2,158 wild American bison have been killed or otherwise removed from the remaining wild population since 2000 under actions carried out by the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), as well as state and treaty hunts. The IBMP is a joint state-federal plan that prohibits wild bison from migrating to lands outside of Yellowstone's boundaries. Wild American bison are a migratory species native to vast expanses of North America and are ecologically extinct everywhere in the United States outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Buffalo Field Campaign strongly opposes the Interagency Bison Management Plan and maintains that wild bison should be allowed to naturally and fully recover themselves throughout their historic native range, especially on public lands.

Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, every day, to stop the slaughter of the wild American buffalo.  Volunteers defend the buffalo and their native habitat and advocate for their lasting protection. Buffalo Field Campaign has proposed real alternatives to the current mismanagement of American bison that can be viewed at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/solutions.html. For more information, video clips and photos visit: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.




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Media & Outreach

Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT  59758
406-646-0070
bfc-...@wildrockies.org

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day

in defense of the last wild buffalo in the U.S.

[Omega Group]

Buffalo Friends,

Buffalo capture and slaughter continues in Yellowstone National Park.
Below is today's press release. Please continue to contact
Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis, and urge her to stop the
slaughter now. Tell her that she and her agency are responsible for
protecting the national treasures in their care, not defending
Montana's cattle interests.

Use these numbers to get through to Suzanne Lewis:
* 307-344-2002 - Suzanne
* 307-344-2013 - Yellowstone Public Affairs
* 307-344-7381 - Yellowstone's main number

We have been told that the park is ignoring emails from the public,
which is an outrage. But if you live out of the country and cannot
afford a long-distance call and would like to send Suzanne Lewis an
email about this atrocity, you can send them to:
Suzann...@nps.gov
OR
yell_supe...@nps.gov

Thank you for being a voice for America's last wild buffalo!

BUFFALO FIELD CAMPAIGN (BFC)
P.O. BOX 957
WEST YELLOWSTONE, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-...@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org


* PRESS RELEASE*

BISON SLAUGHTER INCREASES IN YELLOWSTONE
Yellowstone National Park Sends 30 More Bison to Slaughterhouse;
Captures 44 More

For Immediate Release, February 12, 2008

Contact: Buffalo Field Campaign, Stephany Seay
406-646-0070

GARDINER, MONTANA - Yellowstone National Park officials sent 30 more

wild American bison to slaughter this morning, without testing them
for exposure to brucellosis, the supposed reason for these actions.

This brings the week's wild bison slaughter count to 67.

This morning Yellowstone Park Rangers captured an additional 44 wild
American bison. Buffalo Field Campaign witnessed Yellowstone Park
Rangers hazing this group of buffalo from deeper in the Park, towards
the boundary, and they were subsequently captured. Most, if not all,
will be sent to slaughter facilities without being tested for exposure
to the livestock disease brucellosis.

Video of Yellowstone bison in the Stephens Creek Capture Facility:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/videoaudio/Gardiner2004.mov

Yellowstone National Park says they expect to send another 16 captured
bison to slaughter facilities tomorrow.

Cattle interests claim bison capture and slaughter is necessary to
prevent the spread of brucellosis from wild bison to cattle.
Brucellosis is a livestock disease introduced to native wildlife in
the early 20th century. However, there has never been a documented
case of wild bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle.

"The Park Service needs to realize that they are responsible for
protecting wildlife, not cattle interests," said Mike Mease, co-
founder of Buffalo Field Campaign.

Some bison calves have been tested for exposure to brucellosis. Those
testing negative - currently 17 - will be transported to the Corwin
Springs bison quarantine research facility, where they will be raised
in pens and treated like livestock.

Video of Yellowstone bison in the Corwin Springs Quarantine Facility:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/videoaudio/quarantine042305.mov

On Friday, the Park Service captured 54 bison; on Sunday, 41 bison;
and on Tuesday 44. Since Friday, February, 8, 139 American bison (or
buffalo) have been removed from the last wild population in the United
States by Yellowstone National Park. All will be shipped to
slaughterhouses or a quarantine research facility.

"Originally the U.S. Calvary was sent here to protect the last
remaining bison found in Yellowstone," said Mike Mease, co-founder of
Buffalo Field Campaign. "How sadly ironic that millions of U.S. tax
dollars are now being spent to kill them for the sake of the unfounded
fears of Montana's cattle industry."

The bison were captured for following their natural migratory
instincts and walking onto or near habitat that is privately owned by
the Church Universal & Triumphant (CUT). CUT land hosts fewer than
250 head of cattle. Wild bison are also refused access to publicly
owned Gallatin National Forest lands adjacent to Yellowstone National

Park and CUT property. Gallatin National Forest lands were originally
set aside by Congress in the early 20th century as wildlife winter
range, as they realized Yellowstone did not provide the winter forage
needed by ungulates such as bison and elk. In the winter months,

grasslands in the Park are obscured by deep snow and bison and other
wild ungulates venture to lower-elevation habitat where they find

critical forage necessary for survival. Wild bison are the only
wildlife confined to Yellowstone's boundaries.

These bison are members of the last wild, genetically intact

population living in the United States, and number fewer than 4,500.

"The National Park Service is buckling to the unreasonable demands of

Montana's livestock industry at the expense of an American icon," said
Seay, "These bison are our national heritage, a keystone species
critical to the ecological health of native grasslands."

Federal and State actions serving Montana's cattle interests are
responsible for the deaths of hundreds of wild bison this year and the
death toll is likely to rise significantly. Tribal treaty hunts are
also underway. Bison killed or otherwise removed from the last wild
population during the winter of 2007-2008:
Montana and Treaty Bison Hunts: 112

NPS Captured (to be slaughtered/quarantined): 139
NPS Sent to Slaughter (Yellowstone North Boundary): 67

Highway mortalities (West Yellowstone): 5

This season's harsh winter is also starting to take a toll on wild
bison, who are finding it more difficult and sometimes impossible to
crater through the snow to get to critical forage for survival. Snow
banks from highway snowplowing around the West Yellowstone area are
making the bison's migration extremely difficult. Bison are getting
trapped along highway 191 and motor-collision mortalities are
resulting.

2,188 wild American bison have been killed or otherwise removed from