Yellowstone National Park photos & tips wildlife - bison

Yellowstone National Park: bison

For decades, the population of bison in Yellowstone has been ample enough to let Nature take her course: the population fluctuates according to natural conditions and is no longer actively managed to boost numbers.

A big male bison horses around

All is not a happy picture, however, because during harsh winters the animals migrate to lower altitudes out of the Park. Unfortunately, many wild bison can carry a disease called brucellosis which cattle farmers fear may spread to their stock; cattle farmers have made huge efforts to achieve a "brucellosis-free" status for marketing their meat. Bison who seek food outside the park boundaries have regularly been shot.(See CNN article: where the buffalo roam - and die" about this controversy).

Read more about Yellowstone's bison at Yellowstone.net.

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All Images (c) 2001 by Teresa Plowright.

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