After my time in West Yellowstone, I headed up to Gardiner, Montana and the northern entrance to Yellowstone. They had no snow on the ground lower down, and only bits of snow up higher. The mild weather (and of course, the continuous killing of past years) means that the buffalo have stayed safely well inside the park boundaries.
Hunters from at least two of the treaty hunting tribes were out scoping the area, and while I was there they killed one cow elk in the area above the town up Jardine Road. Beyond that, all was peaceful, with both the hunters and the killing machine at the Stephens Creek Capture Facility skunked for now.
From up high I could see various groups far away – both inside the park and in the backcountry. Heading in the park I saw a small group between Mammoth and the park entrance – close enough to make us nervous, but not in danger, and seemingly in no hurry.
A drive into the park finally led me to some large herds I could spend time with. They looked healthy and fed, and some of the mamas looked very very pregnant. The young bulls sparred, the yearlings enjoyed their last time as “babies” before the new generation arrives, and the big bulls were regal, as always.
On my second day I visited the imprisoned buffalo in the various quarantine facilities. The main capture facility has been nearly emptied – it seems there was a large transfer of 219 captive buffalo to Fort Peck, headed for more quarantine and a life behind fences, “managed” by humans.
This article says it all about the mindset of those behind quarantine, calling the transfer, “a touchstone of success after decades of litigation and bootstrapping to demonstrate that defining bison as ‘livestock’ or ‘wildlife’ doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive.”
We say yes, yes they DO have to be mutually exclusive. These mighty creatures they treat as livestock have been ripped from their homes and relations, poked and prodded and caged, in an attempt to take the wildness right out of them.
The large trap, Stephens Creek Capture Facility inside Yellowstone, seemed to be the one that has mostly been emptied – I only counted 59 buffalo there. Certainly the park is hoping to fill it back up again with their wild relatives. The two other quarantine pens, Slip’n’Slide and Corwin Springs, each held between 15-25 buffalo. They stood listlessly feeding on hay in an otherwise barren field. It shouldn’t be this way.
I traveled again into the park, and this time saw a huge herd, over three hundred strong, heading north from Blacktail Pond. It’s incredible to see a group this size moving as one, and Blacktail Pond is still a long way from the northern boundary, but it is always nerve-wracking to see such movement, as we worry they could decide to leave the safety of the park en mass.
As I left the park that day, due to return home the following morning, a smaller group marched north through Mammoth, heading for Gardiner. Thankfully I did not see them on my way out of town the next morning, and our allies in the area say they are still safe.
We certainly hope for a quiet year. Even though it means less time with the buffalo, even though it means they are not following their migratory instincts, even though it means their numbers are low and the weather is unseasonably mild. I have since left for home, but our co-founders will be back in the field soon, standing with the buffalo and telling their story.
Unfortunately, just as we prepare to post this report, we heard that the killing has started in Gardiner. We will get more information and report back to you all soon.
Thank you, as always, for your support – we wouldn’t be here without you.