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"Buffalo Kill To Control Disease Questioned
Environmental Groups Dispute Risk to Cattle
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 26, 2004; Page A03
For most Americans, buffaloes are icons of an era when much of America was wild and unspoiled.
But to state and federal park officials around Yellowstone National Park, the bison also represent the threat of brucellosis, a disease that causes both buffaloes and cattle to spontaneously abort their young. In an effort to protect susceptible cows on ranches bordering the park, park rangers have been shooting a growing number of the buffaloes that each winter wander out of the park in search of food.
So far this year, National Park Service and Montana Department of Livestock employees have shot 278 of the roughly 4,200 wild buffaloes that roam the park's confines. The program -- a boon to neighboring cattle owners and a bane to environmentalists -- has been in place for nearly a decade. But as the number of dead bison mount, criticism of the practice has grown......"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25031-2004Mar25.html
What do you guys think about this?
Environmental Groups Dispute Risk to Cattle
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 26, 2004; Page A03
For most Americans, buffaloes are icons of an era when much of America was wild and unspoiled.
But to state and federal park officials around Yellowstone National Park, the bison also represent the threat of brucellosis, a disease that causes both buffaloes and cattle to spontaneously abort their young. In an effort to protect susceptible cows on ranches bordering the park, park rangers have been shooting a growing number of the buffaloes that each winter wander out of the park in search of food.
So far this year, National Park Service and Montana Department of Livestock employees have shot 278 of the roughly 4,200 wild buffaloes that roam the park's confines. The program -- a boon to neighboring cattle owners and a bane to environmentalists -- has been in place for nearly a decade. But as the number of dead bison mount, criticism of the practice has grown......"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25031-2004Mar25.html
What do you guys think about this?