Rep. Nick Rahall's (D-WV) amendment to stop the government-sponsored harassment and slaughter of bison in Yellowstone National Park was narrowly defeated in the U.S. House in July, but supporters say the issue, unlike hundreds of Yellowstone bison, is far from dead.
The Rahall Amendment to the House Interior Appropriations bill was defeated by a vote of 199 to 220, but during the floor discussions, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) became an eloquent defender of the efforts to protect Yellowstone bison, who continue to be harassed and slaughtered by the National Park Service (NPS) and other agencies. Hinchey announced on the floor that he would offer a bill to protect Yellowstone bison; the legislation is expected to be introduced in late September or October.
The plight of these animals has received an unprecedented amount of attention in recent months. In June, Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA), and Corrine Brown (D-FL) drafted a Congressional letter to the NPS, questioning its slaughter policy, which this spring has killed hundreds of Yellowstone bison in the name of protecting domestic cattle from brucellosis. Thirty-six Representatives signed their names to Inslee-Brown letter.
In early March 2003, federal and Montana state officials rounded up 231 bison from Yellowstone and promptly sent them all to slaughter. It wasn't the first time they had killed members of one of America's last population of wild, free-roaming buffalo.
Since 1985, more than 3,500 of Yellowstone's wild bison have met the same fate at the hands of NPS and other agencies. The slaughter is often preceded by lengthy hazing operations in which bison—including females with newborn calves—are chased for miles by helicopters, snowmobiles, and trucks until they have been driven to capture facilities.
These operations have been carried out for years as a result of a cooperative agreement between the NPS, the Montana Department of Livestock (MDOL), and other state and federal agencies. This agreement allows agencies to round up bison who approach or cross the Yellowstone Park boundaries, test them for brucellosis (a disease that can cause spontaneous abortions in cattle), and send those bison who test positive to slaughter.
The policy is supposed to protect a handful of domestic cattle from the remote possibility that they could be infected with brucellosis. However, this disease has never been transmitted from wild, free-roaming bison to domestic cattle, most of whom are vaccinated against the disease anyway. Furthermore, a positive test result may mean no more than that a bison has been exposed to the disease and has produced antibodies.
Conservation and animal protection organizations have argued for years that the capture-test-slaughter policy is unnecessary and can be replaced by common-sense, non-lethal, solutions. However, these reasonable arguments have been ignored. This spring, like last year, the bison were not even tested for disease before being shipped to the slaughterhouse, where a handful were shot as they attempted to escape.
What You Can Do
As soon as the Hinchey bill is introduced, we will let you know so you can ask your U.S. representative to support the bill. Check back with hsus.org for updates.
