Montana looks to relocate bison

Montana wildlife officials are seeking approval to create a bison management plan and scope out sites that would be suitable to relocate dozens of bison from the genetically pure Yellowstone National Park herd. The goal is to find areas that could support a population of at least 50 bison now involved in a quarantine program testing for the spread of the disease brucellosis, said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials. The animals would be temporarily relocated to an interim site for the five years they must remain under quarantine, then be permanently settled at either that site or in another part of Montana after a management plan is created that would include a hunt for the animals. “This is one species in the state we have really, in a management effort, ignored,” said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said Tuesday. The bison in the Yellowstone herd are genetically pure, as opposed to others where the genes of cattle have been introduced, making them highly valued targets for conservation...more