Just a few days ago, the first baby buffalo of the year was spotted inside Yellowstone National Park. Despite this celebratory time of year, every single weekday, two stock trailers full of the country’s last wild buffalo have left the park’s Stephens Creek trap, headed for the slaughterhouse. The adult female buffalo who are still in the trap could give birth at any time. In addition to buffalo being sent to the slaughterhouse, the hunt-slaughter pressure continues in both basins.
Though it does seem to be tapering down a bit, the Nez Perce tribe is still “hunting” in West Yellowstone in the area of the Central herd’s calving grounds. A neighbor who witnessed some of the carnage called it a “blood bath.” We wonder how many full term baby buffalo are in their mother’s gut piles.
Yellowstone National Park has finally started posting their Bison Operations Report on their new cumbersome website, but when we first received it, it was not up to date nor did it have very much information. These reports used to be pretty thorough, revealing how many buffalo had been captured for slaughter, for quarantine, as well as how many buffalo had been killed by state and tribal hunters, with a breakdown of how many each tribe killed. Now the report only reveals how many buffalo have been placed in quarantine (domestication) and how many have been shipped to slaughter. The current report states that:
- 577 have been shipped to slaughter – including 329 adult females, likely all carrying the next generation of buffalo
- 97 have been assigned to a life of domestication (quarantine)
- 1 buffalo calf was killed as a result of capture
Additionally, according to a treaty hunt support group’s website:
- 850 (+ /-) have been captured in Yellowstone’s Stephens Creek trap
- 28 have been killed by tribal hunters (as of April 3rd, more have since been killed)
- 2 were killed by Montana state hunters
- 1 was killed by a Wyoming hunter
The next Interagency Bison Management Plan will be held on May 15, in Bozeman, Montana. If you are able to make it, please attend! There is opportunity for public comment and these agencies and tribes need to hear from you! In the meantime, there are two other actions you can take:
Contact Yellowstone and tell them to stop the slaughter of pregnant moms and calves. Enough is enough!
Call Yellowstone’s Superintendent Cam Sholly at (307) 344-2002
Email: Yell_Superintendent@nps.gov
Comment on their social media pages:
Let Tizer Meats, the slaughterhouse that is doing the killing, know how disgusted you are at their participation in this slaughter.
Tizer Meats
(406) 442-3096 • (406) 422-4822
We do have some good news! Yellowstone Voice’s documentary, A Path Forward for the American Bison, which Roam Free Nation appears in, will be shown at the Fort Meyers Film Festival, May 14-18, in Fort Meyers, Florida. If you have not yet seen this very informative documentary, you can watch it here.
Grizzly bears need our help! Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming are seeking to end federal protections for endangered grizzly bears. These states want to open up trophy hunting, which could wipe these sacred bears out. Even with Endangered Species Act protections their numbers continue to decline. Climate change is a big factor, but grizzly-human conflict also takes a heavy toll.
Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks is currently accepting public comments on their New Delisting Rule until May 16. Learn more and submit your comments at Save the Yellowstone Grizzly.
Thank you all for your continued support and for your love of wild buffalo and all of wild nature!