All they wanted was some food. Now some of the last true, wild
bison in America face slaughter simply for leaving Yellowstone
National Park. Harsh winter conditions have buried vegetation
deep under snow, and these majestic animals – some of the only
pure descendants of America’s original bison herds – are leaving
Yellowstone Park for lower elevations to find food. Nearly 400
Yellowstone bison have been rounded up and are now being held in
corrals near Gardiner, Montana where federal officials will
determine whether they will live or die. The bison are being
tested for the disease brucellosis. Those that test positive
will be slaughtered… soon. Since the corrals are only designed
to hold 400 bison and federal agents have been aggressively
rounding up all the animals that stray from Yellowstone National
Park, even brucellosis-free bison may be killed as well.
America’s wild bison can play an important role in balanced,
natural ecosystems. They once numbered in the millions, but now
only a few thousand true bis