I just returned from a trip to Montana and whoa, there are lots of bison in that state! While driving through Yellowstone National Park we often got stuck in traffic jams caused by buffalo crossing. At one point a mother bison stopped in front of our car to nurse her baby bison. Not an ideal spot for feeding, but it was amazing for us to see. And after days of endless buffalo encounters I have to admit, I sorta fell in love with these beasts. The buffalo made me smile, partly because they were so cute (in a big, hairy sorta way) and partly because every time I saw one this song would play in my head:

Now that you know all about my bison crush you can imagine how sad I was to learn that over 1,000 buffalo have been slaughtered because they carry brucellosis.

It’s been a bloody year for bison, also known as buffalo, in Yellowstone. Government wildlife agents and hunters have killed or removed a record 1,700 of the animals this winter. Considered a risk to transmit the disease brucellosis to livestock at surrounding cattle ranches, they were captured or shot as they migrated outside the park in search of food.

Federal and state officials cite the lack of an effective brucellosis vaccine and pressure from the livestock industry to contain the disease within Yellowstone.

“It’s impossible to keep the bison in the park when they’re starving there,” Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said in an interview this week. “There’s five feet of snow there. That’s the problem.”

As the death toll has climbed, the frustration among American Indians, sporting groups, conservationists and bison advocates has intensified. [Spokesman Review]

Honestly I feel like a hypocrite, I don’t like that the buffalo are being murdered however I do eat bison burgers. So what’s ethical and what is not? Looks like I have some research and some thinking to do (dammit, why do bison burgers have to be so delicious?)

For more on the bison slaughter issue and ways to get involved takepart and check out buffalofieldcampaign.org.
And take a peek at the National Park Service page about the bison issue at http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/bison.htm