Tribes to receive Yellowstone bison held by Turner

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Tribes to receive Yellowstone bison held by Turner
By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press | November 12, 2014 | Updated: November 12, 2014 9:40pm

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A group of Yellowstone National Park bison is due to finally arrive at a permanent home on a northeastern Montana American Indian reservation on Thursday, almost a decade after they were captured and spared from slaughter.

About 100 of the 138 animals were loaded onto trucks late Wednesday to travel overnight to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, home to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes.

All of the bison were set to make the trip Wednesday, but one of the trucks broke down. The remaining bison will begin their journey Thursday.

The small herd will help tribal members regain a connection to an animal that helped shaped their ancestors' nomadic existence, tribal officials said.

Bison, also known as buffalo, still play a central role in many ceremonies for Plains Indian tribes.

The Yellowstone animals will be "welcomed with prayers," said Tom Escarcega, one of a group of Assiniboine and Sioux tribal leaders who planned to escort the animals to Fort Peck.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Tribes-to-receive-Yellowstone-bison-held-by-Turner-5888228.php

[greatlaurel]

1. That is really good news. Hope other tribes are able to get more of these animals.

The size of the bison herd in Yellowstone is strictly controlled. Animals are regularly culled. Was told by a ranger that tribes have wanted to take the extra animals, but have been opposed by ranchers, so the bison have been killed, instead.

[2naSalit]

2. Very good news

This has been a controversy for such a long time. An important factor in all this is that the Yellowstone bison herds are the last remaining free-roaming, genetically pure herds in the US of A. All others are remnants of interbreeding with the European cattle that were brought here over a century ago, the culprits of the brucella abortis problem - they gave it to bison about 100 years ago but the bison are blamed for its existence. The whole argument is a red herring to keep the bison from leaving the park boundaries, especially when they enter Montana. And never mind that elk are the carriers who pass it back to the cattle... apparently they have a high-end lobby.

Long story short, if Mr. Turner had not given these bison safe haven until this case was sorted out, they would have been sent to slaughter.

For more info check out the group who have been fighting to end the shameful treatment of one of our living national treasures: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/ (Warning, some of the images at this site are pretty graphic but it's what has been going on for decades... at least it has been documented since the mid 1980s for people to see what our tax dollars pay for.)

Because most of the info about this issue can be found there, including chronological documentation. The state's dept of cattle has been on the offensive for a long time against bison because they eat grass that they want their welfare cattle to eat at our expense, the feds have gone along with it and we all pay for it.

2na

ETA: Press release on sentencing of the young man who blocked a capture facility a story for which there was an OP earlier this year...

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/press1314/pressreleases1314/042914.html

[niyad]

3. k and r and thanks for posting.