More Than 1,000 Yellowstone Bison Culled

Above, grazing bison in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Officials at Yellowstone National Park said that they have met and exceeded their goals of culling bison from the park.

According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

More than 1,100 Yellowstone bison have been removed from the population, a total that surpassed bison managers’ reduction goals for the winter. 

Yellowstone National Park spokeswoman Morgan Warthin said Monday that a total of 1,155 bison had been removed, a number that goes beyond the range of between 600 and 900 that officials agreed to this winter. Bison capture is now over. 

In a statement, park officials said they expect there will be roughly 4,300 bison in the park after this spring’s calving season. The statement said that will meet an agency goal of a population of less than 4,500 bison for the first time since 2012. 

Wildlife managers try to reduce the number of bison each year because of a multi-agency agreement that calls for a population of about 3,000. Park officials estimated the total at about 4,800 last fall. 

Bison are culled through hunting and ship-to-slaughter. Meat from slaughtered bison is distributed to Native American tribes.

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