The National Park Service is currently investigating an incident in which captured bison were released from their pens at the Stephens Creek Facility in Yellowstone National Park. This is the second such sabotage incident at the facility this year.
According to the Yellowstone National Park, approximately 73 of the 96 bison inside a pen were released after unknown people compromised the fences at Stephens Creek sometime between 9 p.m. February 21st and 6 a.m. February 22nd. Many, if not all, of the bison remained in the immediate area following their release, and most returned to the pen through the same fence openings through which they escaped.
The 96 bison captured this week had not yet been processed or tested for brucellosis. Some of the bison would have been held for possible quarantine, which others would have been transferred to Native American tribes and shipped to slaughter.
Park staff have repaired the fence at Stephens Creek.
This is the second such incident which has occurred at the facility this year. On January 16th, Park staff discovered that 52 bison were released from their pens.
“This act of sabotage, along with the incident that occurred on January 16, is a setback for bison conservation,” said Superintendent Dan Wenk. “Creating a successful quarantine program will allow the transfer of live animals to tribes to develop conservation herds on tribal lands. The saboteurs are only ensuring more bison will be shipped to slaughter.”
The National Park Service has initiated a new criminal investigation for this incident. Yellowstone National Park is reviewing security measures at the facility and will make improvements immediately.
Below is some background information released by the National Park Service:
- Operations at the Stephens Creek facility 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 IBMPpartners 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.
- Bison capture and shipping operations may continue through March.
- Information about the number of animals that are captured, processed, shipped, and hunted will be provided every other week in the Bison Operations Updatesof the IBMP website.
- Learn about the annual bison migration from senior bison biologist Rick Wallen in a Facebook Live interview.
- For more information about bison management, visit https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/management/bison-manage
