Grand Canyon opens lottery for shooting bison in park

[left-of-center2012]

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The National Park Service is opening a rare opportunity for skilled shooters to help reduce the number of bison roaming the far reaches of northern Arizona. Native American tribes will have a separate opportunity to help with lethal removal.

Come Monday, potential volunteers will have 48 hours to submit an application to lethally remove the massive animals from Grand Canyon National Park this fall. Thousands of people from across the country are expected to apply. Only 12 will be chosen through a lottery system and notified in mid-May.

Officials at the Grand Canyon say the bison increasingly have been trampling archaeological resources, creating deep ruts and wallows in meadows, and spoiling ponds. Hunting is prohibited within national parks, but the agency has authority to kill animals that harm resources, using park staff or volunteers.

The animals are the descendants of bison introduced to northern Arizona in the early 1900s as part of a ranching operation to crossbreed them with cattle and are owned by the state.

https://apnews.com/article/canyons-bison-lifestyle-shootings-government-and-politics-d97bce22f85a18527b3faaef31c5d5cd

[ret5hd]

1. If this is to be done at all...

the Native Americans should be the ONLY ones eligible to apply.

JMHO.

[left-of-center2012]

2. Why ?

"The animals are the descendants of bison introduced to northern Arizona in the early 1900s as part of a ranching operation"

[ret5hd]

5. We already took more than our share:

[left-of-center2012]

6. okie dokie

[denbot]

8. They were reintroduced after slaughtering them to starve us.

And yes, I believe natives should get in front of the line for this.

[left-of-center2012]

9. Whatever. n/t

[denbot]

10. LoL, yeah literal genocide is a "whatever"..

[left-of-center2012]

11. Bye

[maxsolomon]

3. Good Luck! Mountain Goats still roam Olympic NP.

They're not native to the Olympic Mountains; they were imported from the Cascades for hunting in the '30s.

The Park Service tried to eradicate them through hunting, but they're smart and simply went so far into the back country they were unreachable. They're still working on it, this time with trapping.

In 2010, one KILLED A DUDE on the Mt. Angeles trail!

https://www.nwnewsnetwork.org/post/nearly-100-olympic-mountain-goats-moved-11-dead-after-first-relocation-effort#:~:text=In%202010%2C%20an%20Olympic%20Peninsula,ridges%20of%20Olympic%20National%20Park.

[Pobeka]

4. The park service has made really good progress removing goats from ONP.

We were just there last fall in an area known to be heavy with goats and did not see evidence of a single goat.

Your article is now two years old, so I take that as a sign of what can be accomplished in two years.

[Volaris]

7. Why dont they just move these animals into Yellowstone,

Or better yet, give them to whatever native government might want them to raise on tribal lands?

Killing them seems...unnecessary.

[ShazzieB]

12. Yellowstone has plenty of bison already, I think.

"The Yellowstone Park bison herd in Yellowstone National Park is probably the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States, estimated in 2020 to be 4,800 bison. The bison in the Yellowstone Park bison herd are American bison of the Plains bison subspecies." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Park_bison_herd

My dh and I visited Yellowstone in 2018. Saw lots of bison, like this bunch that was hanging out right by the road one afternoon. (This pic is just a small sample of a much bigger group.)



Seeing them up so close was one of the major highlights of the trip for me.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

13. I've been quite near to both of these bison types

They are only distantly related. The Yellowstone bison are markedly larger than the Grand Canyon ones, a foot or more higher at the shoulder.

From what i was able to gather from talking to a Park Ranger at The Canyon, theirs are 'beefalo', having a sizable genetic component of cattle, while the Yellowstone type are purebred bison.

Mixing the two types together wouldn't be advisable.

My 'day job' is WEIRD, I get into some rather odd places in unusual circumstances.

[Volaris]

14. Fair enough I suppose, but i trust darwin lol.

Let the big ones in Yellowstone breed the cow back out of them; if that fails, the wolves will have a few easy winters

[Amishman]

15. I can think of several reasons

Capturing and transporting them would be dangerous for both the animals and the people attempting it, and expensive.

Bison tend to not mix between herds much (mating season being the main exception), so life for the transported animals would be quite difficult.

Plus the possibility of introducing new pathogens into the yellowstone herd by mixing populations that are normally isolated