2-21 FB Bison Slaughter

 Yellowstone bison slaughter can proceed. According to the Idaho Statesman,  federal judge Charles Lovell in Helena recently denied a request from wildlife advocates to stop the planned slaughter of hundreds of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park that were captured as they migrated into Montana.

In a 72-page opinion, Judge Lovell wrote that while the slaughter of bison may be "distasteful," it is a "time-honored" method of controlling a disease carried by many of the animals. The Statesman went on to report: An estimated 525 bison are being held in corrals along the border of the snowed-in park after trying to leave in recent weeks in search of food at lower elevations. The animals are generally prohibited in Montana under a federal-state agreement meant to protect livestock against the reproductive disease brucellosis. So far 217 of the captured animals have tested positive for exposure to the disease.This led me to wonder if brucellosis is as contagious in cattle as it is within herds of bison and elk. I asked Idaho’s Chief veterinarian Dr. Bill Barton: “Infected bison can transmit to cattle and other bison. It’s contagious to either species on an equal basis.”