1,436 to 2,300 Yellowstone buffalo left

Today, the National Park Service and the state of Montana made some major announcements about the buffalo slaughter in Yellowstone National Park. One of the announcements that they made was that the slaughter for the season is over on both boundaries, though hazing operations will continue.

In light of that, Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) put out their weekly report, in which they said that the National Park Service has claimed that there are now only 1,436 buffalo alive. According to an email correspondence with BFC, they are now claiming that the number is 2,300 and that they miscalculated the number. So, the number of dead is not clear, but over half have died and perhaps more than two-thirds (down from 4,700). Winter in Yellowstone is not over; we expect a major storm this weekend. What will be the final census?

For public information, I wanted to share the IBMP report regarding bison. Here is the pdf version of that report.

***

YELLOWSTONE BISON POPULATION MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

This report summarizes management activities associated with implementation of the Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Bison Management Plan for the State of Montana and Yellowstone National Park for the time period 1 September 2007 through 31 August 2008. The reporting period for this summary is 1 April through 15 April 2008.

PARKWIDE DISTRIBUTION:

In the interior some mixed groups, totaling ~230, moving around Hayden Valley, the Lakeshore and in Pelican Valley. There are approximately 540 bison in the Geyser Basins. There are approximately 58 bison out of the park, west of Hwy 191 and on Hwy 191 itself. There are approximately 88 bison between 191 and Cougar Meadows inside the park. On the Northern Range bison are primarily utilizing Blacktail and Hellroaring slope with limited, but increasing use of Little America. There are now roughly 170 bison on Blacktail Deer Plateau. There has been some movement east from Gardiner to Blacktail with 3 radio collared bison, but movement has continued to the North, including two radio collared bison from Swan Lake. There are approximately 350 bison in the Gardiner basin, including ~135 in the Eagle Creek area.

HAZING OPERATIONS:

Hazing operations that occur near the North and West Boundaries are primarily conducted and reported by the YNP Division of Resource Management and Visitor Protection and MT Department of Livestock, respectively.

North Boundary Area: 15 hazing events were reported this period.

* Once again hazing has occurred daily. Many of the hazing reports have not been filed yet because the officers in charge are working overtime every day with hazing and capture operations. The days that hazing occurred are still listed and information regarding those days will be included when information becomes available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Every day from 1 April through 15 April: information regarding the hazing conducted on these days will be reported when available.

West Boundary Area: 0 hazing events were reported this period.

CAPTURE OPERATIONS:

Capture operations that occur near the North and West Boundaries are primarily conducted and reported by the YNP Division of Resource Management and Visitor Protection and MT Department of Livestock, respectively.

North Boundary Area: 281 bison were reported captured this reporting period

Adding the numbers below comes to an estimated total of 1619 bison captured.

Working backwards using numbers of bison shipped, held, sent to quarantine, etc. comes up with 1645 bison captured and is probably a more accurate estimate for total bison captured at Stephens Creek Capture Facility.

8 Feb: 54 bison captured 18 March: 35 bison captured

10 Feb: 42 bison captured 19 March: 4 bison captured

11 Feb: 4 bison captured 21 March: 120 bison captured

12 Feb: 44 bison captured 22 March: 95 bison captured

15 Feb: 31 bison captured 25 March: 61 bison captured

18 Feb: 100 bison captured 28 March: 35 bison captured

20 Feb: 15 bison captured 29 March: 33 bison captured

25 Feb: 190 bison captured 30 March: 23 bison captured

26 Feb: 18 bison captured 1 April: 119 bison captured

27 Feb: 19 bison captured 4 April: 40 bison captured

28 Feb: 123 bison captured 9 April: 120 bison captured

2 March: 12 bison captured 13 April: 2 bison captured

6 March: 106 bison captured

7 March: 87 bison captured

8 March: 76 bison captured

10 March: 11 bison captured

*10 April: 15 bison escaped from the Stephen’s Creek Capture Facility during a sorting procedure due to improper gate closure/latch failure.

West Boundary Area: 39 bison were reported captured this reporting period

26 Feb: 30 bison captured

4 March: 51 bison captured

5 March: 13 bison captured

11 March: 13 bison captured

8 April: 34 bison captured (Horse Butte)

9 April: 5 bison captured (Duck Ck)

Bison Transported to Slaughter

Boundary	Bison to Slaughter this reporting period	Total to Slaughter (Sept 1 – pres)
West	39	146
North	263	1276
Total	302	1422

Stephen’s Creek Stephen’s Creek cont. Horse Butte

11 Feb: 37 shipped 25 March: 20 shipped 27 Feb: 30 shipped

12 Feb: 30 shipped 26 March: 22 shipped 5 March: 38 shipped

13 Feb: 16 shipped 27 March: 16 shipped 6 March: 26 shipped

14 Feb: 44 shipped 28 March: 16 shipped 12 March: 13 shipped

15 Feb: 17 shipped 31 March: 20 shipped 9 April: 17 shipped

19 Feb: 31 shipped 1 April: 13 shipped 10 April: 22 shipped

20 Feb: 55 shipped 2 April: 34 shipped

21 Feb: 60 shipped 3 April: 20 shipped

26 Feb: 48 shipped 4 April: 37 shipped

27 Feb: 69 shipped 7 April: 15 shipped

28 Feb: 68 shipped 8 April: 45 shipped

3 March: 69 shipped 9 April: 40 shipped

4 March: 14 shipped 11 April: 18 shipped

5 March: 62 shipped 14 April: 21 shipped

11 March: 59 shipped 15 April: 20 shipped

13 March: 61 shipped

14 March: 25 shipped

17 March: 57 shipped

18 March: 62 shipped

20 March: 21 shipped

21 March: 14 shipped

Bison Transported to Quarantine:

Boundary	Bison to Quarantine this reporting period	Total to Quarantine (Sept 1 – pres)
West	0	0
North	38	112

19 March: 37 transported

25 March: 14 transported

26 March: 12 transported

27 March: 11 transported

1 April: 6 transported

3 April: 15 transported

7 April: 4 transported

8 April: 9 transported

14 April: 4 transported

Capture Pen Mortalities:

Boundary	Capture Pen Mortality this reporting period	Total Pen Mortality this operating season (Sept 1 – pres)
West	0	0
North	4	7

13 April: 3 newborn calves died from natural causes (they were born on the 9^th and 10^th)

14 April: 1 adult cow (mother to one of the calves listed above) died from natural causes

Other Information:

Newborn Calves held at Stephens Creek: 1

Seropositive Pregnant Cows held at Stephens Creek: 18

Radio Collared Cows not tested but held at Stephens Creek: 26

Total Bison being held at Stephens Creek for spring release: 238

INTERAGENCY BISON MANAGEMENT PLAN SHOOTING OPERATIONS:

Boundary	Bison Shot this reporting period	Total Shot this operating season
West	0	0
North	6	6

11 April: 5 bulls shot near Carbella fishing access, west of Yankee Jim Canyon

11 April: 1 bull shot near milepost 5 on Hwy 89

HUNTER HARVEST:

The numbers are from reports by FWP wardens/biologists, hunters, NPS employees and BFC.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Bison Hunt (Nov 15 – Feb 15)

Boundary	FWP Hunter Take this reporting period	Total FWP Hunter Take this operating season (Nov 15 – pres)
West	0	50
North	0	13
Total	0	63

Native American Tribal Treaty Right Bison Hunts

Boundary	Nez Perce Hunter Take this reporting period	Total Nez Perce Hunter Take this operating season (Jan 26 – Mar 3?)	Confederated Salish and Kootenai Hunter Take this reporting period	Total Confederated Salish and Kootenai Hunter Take this operating season (Nov 15 – Jan 31)
West	0	19	0	38
North	0	45	0	1
Total	0	64	0	39

2007	West	September	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	North	September	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	West	October	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	North	October	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	West	November 1-14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	North	November 1-14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	West	November 15-30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10
2007	North	November 15-30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
2007	West	December 1-15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
2007	North	December 1-15	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
2007	West	December 16-31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14
2007	North	December 16-31	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
2008	West	January 1-15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	26
2008	North	January 1-15	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Table continued on next page.

Year	Boundary	Month	Hazing Events	Mngmt Shootings	Total Captured	Captured &Tested	Slaughtered & Not Tested	Slaughtered & Tested Positive	Slaughtered & Tested Negative	Released/Held & Tested Negative	Released & Not Tested	Vaccinated	Quarantine	Capture/Pen Mortality	Hunter Take
Year	Boundary	Month	Hazing Events	Mngmt Shootings	Total Captured	Captured &Tested	Slaughtered & Not Tested	Slaughtered & Tested Positive	Slaughtered & Tested Negative	Released/Held & Tested Negative	Released & Not Tested	Vaccinated	Quarantine	Capture/Pen Mortality	Hunter Take
2008	West	January 16-31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23
2008	North	January 16-31	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
2008	West	February 1-13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16
2008	North	February 1-13	7	0	144	18	82	0	1**	0	0	0	0	0	7
2008	West	February 14-29	0	0	30	0	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9
2008	North	February 14-29	5	0	496	0	375	0	17**	0	0	0	0	1`	39^
2008	West	March 1-14	0	0	77	0	77	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
2008	North	March 1-14	13	0	292	0	290	0	0	0	0	0	0	2***	1
2008	West	March 15-31	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	North	March 15-31	18	0	406	201	187	61	0	66	0	0	74	0	0
2008	West	April 1-15	0	0	39	0	39	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	North	April 1-15	15	6	281	321	126	137	0	127	0	24	38	4*	0
Summary			64	6	1765	540	1206	198	18	193	0	24	112	7	166

** Seronegative calves, 17 were held for several days pending transport to the Quarantine facility. Due to permit issues the study could not accept the calves and they were shipped to slaughter.

^ Includes 2 bison that were shot inside YNP on 2/29/08 by members of the Nez Perce Tribe. The bison carcasses were confiscated.

` Represents calf that suffered a broken leg due to a collision with a snowmobile on Swan Lake.

***Represents 1 cow bison that came into the capture pen with a broken leg or hip, cause unknown.

*Includes 3 newborn calves that died 4 and 3 days after birth, and 1 of the mothers that died the day after from natural causes.