The Last Wild Buffalo - Stop the Slaughter

Please find out how you can help protect the country's last wild buffalo http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

History, Natural History and Politics:

30 to 50 million wild bison, or buffalo, once roamed North America. The continent’s largest land mammal, the buffalo is a keystone species whose presence is critical to the survival of native prairies and grasslands. Buffalo are a powerful symbol of America’s rich past, the untamed West, and the profoundly sacred.

Buffalo were nearly driven to extinction by the U.S. government and too-willing gunners during the late 19th century. Luckily, 23 buffalo survived by taking refuge in Yellowstone’s remote Pelican Valley. Yellowstone National Park was, in part, created to protect and ensure their survival. Today, the descendents of the millions of wild buffalo whose thundering hooves once shook the earth number fewer than 4,000. They reside in and around Yellowstone National Park, and under pressure from Montana’s cattle industry, are harassed and slaughtered by the very agency sworn to protect them: the National Park Service. Why would Yellowstone National Park slaughter America’s last wild buffalo?

Buffalo are a nomadic species, moving with the seasons, the weather, and availability of food. The long, northern winters of Yellowstone bring heavy snows that obscure food sources critical to the survival of many wildlife species. Every year, in search of livable habitat, buffalo migrate to lower elevation lands where they enter Montana and, consequently, an extreme conflict zone.

Yellowstone National Park’s northern and western boundaries are migration routes for wild buffalo and the lower elevation habitat they seek happens to lie in Montana. Montana boasts itself as a cattle state and holds a zero tolerance policy against wild bison, claiming to fear the spread of brucellosis from wild bison to cattle. Brucellosis is a European cattle disease which wild buffalo have never transmitted to cattle, even where they have co-existed for decades (Grand Teton NP). Elk also carry brucellosis yet are free to roam. Brucellosis is a smokescreen shielding the truth that this is really about grass and who gets to eat it.

During the winter of 1996-97 over 1,084 wild Yellowstone buffalo were slaughtered simply for migrating across the Park’s arbitrary boundary into Montana. Each year since, as wild bison migrate into Montana, they are subjected to harassment and death. Last year, Yellowstone & Montana shipped over 1,000 wild buffalo to slaughter for merely stepping into or approaching Montana.

Whenever buffalo enter Montana they are repeatedly “hazed” (or forced) back into Yellowstone by government agents on snowmobiles, ATVs, trucks, horses, and helicopters. Many are chased for miles through deep snow, and during the spring calving season newborn babies must use their brand new legs to escape the wrath of the agents. Thousands of wild bison have been captured and sent to slaughter or quarantine facilities, all for the “crime” of migrating.

A joint state-federal agreement – the Interagency Bison Management Plan - is the vehicle for carrying out persecution. Responsible agencies include the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL), Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), National Park Service (NPS), National Forest Service (FS), and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Combined, these five agencies ensure that wild buffalo are never at peace when they migrate into Montana.

Adding more insult and injury, Montana initiated a bison “hunt” last year, allowing gunners to kill 46 buffalo. This year the canned hunt resumes with 140 permits. At the time of this writing six magnificent bulls have fallen to hunters near Yellowstone’s borders. Buffalo are provided no year-round habitat in Montana and are ecologically extinct in the state. The hunt, authorized by the Department of Livestock, is just another buffalo-killing tool in the livestock industry’s toolbox.

The wild bison of the Yellowstone ecosystem are America’s last continuously wild herd. They are genetically and behaviorally unique and are the last population of truly wild, free-roaming bison left in the country.

So, why is America’s government killing a national symbol? How can Yellowstone slaughter what it’s sworn to protect? Why do livestock interests take precedence over wildlife? Shouldn’t the cattle industry take responsibility for infecting the country’s native wildlife with diseases?

The Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) is the only group working in the field every day in defense of the last wild buffalo. BFC is a volunteer-based organization, dedicated to the defense of the wild buffalo and their habitat. Formed after the mass slaughter of 1996-97, BFC serves as the eyes and ears of the world on the buffalo issue, bearing witness so that everyone can know what is happening. BFC runs daily field patrols from sunrise to sunset, monitoring the buffalo’s migration, documenting all actions made against them. BFC provides video footage to the media and public in order to raise awareness and build support for the buffalo’s lasting protection. BFC’s field presence depends upon everyone who values wild buffalo and a future where they are free to roam unmolested on their native landscape.

Please join Buffalo Field Campaign on the front lines in Montana. Take up your pen or take to the streets on the buffalo’s behalf, and support BFC so we can remain a continuous presence in the field. Please visit
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org OR call 406-646-0070.

Let the buffalo roam!