Bison advocates claim early start to hazing puts calves at risk

A sign beside the highway heading north out of West Yellowstone flashed, “Animals on roadway – next 10 miles.” It was a clue that Wednesday morning was the start of Montana’s spring ritual of hazing bison back into Yellowstone National Park. “It’s happening a little earlier this year because everything is greening up faster,” said Montana Department of Livestock rider Jeff Mount as he and five other riders waited for their cue near the South Fork of the Madison River south of Horse Butte. The occasional beat of helicopter blades served as another clue as a state helicopter flew a low, random pattern around the Horse Butte peninsula. The pilot was looking for bison sheltering the trees, and after chasing them out, he radioed their locations to the riders. Every winter, bison migrate around 10 miles outside the park to drop their calves in about 100 square miles of lush, mostly-flat lands between the park boundary and Hebgen Lake. Calves are usually born in late April and May. Every spring, the DOL — in cooperation with the park, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, and the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service — forces the bison back into the park, usually by May 15...more