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Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, Mt. 59758
Phone (406)646-0070 Fax (406)646-0071
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
Bull Buffalo Injured During Hazing Operation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2000
Contact: Dan Brister, Mike Mease (406) 646-0070
West Yellowstone, MT: A bull buffalo sustained injuries when it was hazed
through a barbed wire fence during a Department of Livestock (DOL)
operation this morning. DOL agents on horseback, accompanied by a Ranger
from Yellowstone National Park and the local Fish, Wildlife & Parks warden,
carried out several hazing operations, chasing approximately 70 animals
back into the park.
Today's hazing took place in Gallatin National Forest, on land originally
designated as a buffer zone for park wildlife. Two major hazing operations
in the past week have targeted bison grazing on Horse Butte, within the
National Forest. Horse Butte is the buffalo's traditional calving ground,
as well as protected habitat for the threatened bald eagle.
Last Thursday, DOL agents flew a helicopter over Zone One of the Eagle
Closure on Horse Butte, within a quarter mile of one of three active bald
eagle nests in the immediate area. Two bald eagles circled above Horse
Butte as DOL agents and Park Rangers on ATVs (all terrain vehicles) and
horses frightened between 55 and 60 pregnant cows and yearlings from the
Butte. The Special Use Permit which allows the DOL to operate on the Butte
specifically states that "helicopter activities will NOT be permitted in
the Horse Butte area."
"The abuse that the entire ecosystem suffers during these extensive hazing
operations is hardly worth it. All ungulates are in the final stages of
their gestation periods, birds are nesting and the risk is not worth
taking", stated Michael Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign.
The three grazing allotments on Horse Butte bring in $750.60 to the
US Forest Service a year (from 1997 Forest Service records). Last
winter the DOL spent $225,854 on bison management in this contested
area. This amounts to a cost of $1,536 to "protect" each of the 147
cow-calf pairs that summer on the Butte grazing allotments from the
supposed threat of brucellosis.
The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field,
everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers
defend buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their
protection. Our daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they
choose to be on, and document every action taken against them.
Video footage, including shots of the bull being hazed through the fence,
is available upon request.
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Rex L. Bavousett
Photographer
University of Iowa
Our old name: University Relations - Publications
Our new name: University Communications & Outreach - Publications
100 OPL, Iowa City, IA 52242
http://www.uiowa.edu/~urpubs/
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voice: 319 384-0053
fax: 319 384-0055
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