WYOMING – Authorities in Yellowstone National Park announced yesterday that bison capturing and shipping operations began Friday, February 16. The operations are expected to continue through March.
Currently, some 96 bison have been captured at Stephens Creek. Some will be held for possible quarantine. Others will be transferred to Native American tribes and shipped to slaughter.
The actions are taken in support of the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) goal to reduce the population this winter. Partners are aiming to cull 600-900 animals through a combination of shipping and the public and tribal hunt.
On January 4, 2018, the IBMP partners agreed to a 2018 winter operations plan that calls for a reduction of Yellowstone’s current population of 4,800 bison because the state of Montana has limited tolerance for natural bison migrations from the park onto state lands.
Information about the number of animals that are captured, processed, shipped, and hunted will be provided every other week in the Bison Operations Updates of the IBMP website.
