Yellowstone bison herd

Yellowstone National Park may be the only location in the United States where free-ranging bison were never extirpated, since they continued to exist in the wild and were not reintroduced.[3] The Buffalo Field Campaign and Western Watersheds Project filed a petition in 2014 that contends that these herds are two separate groups and are genetically distinct.To assist in the species' revival, in 1896 the United States government obtained one bull and seven cows from the Lincoln Park Zoo bison herd for Yellowstone.[12] State and federal officials were pressured to prevent the spread of the disease as ranchers worry it could lead to Montana losing its brucellosis-free status.The plan is aimed at: Management is focused on keeping the Yellowstone Bison population at levels that limit migration outside the park.[11] There have been no cases of bison transmitting brucellosis directly to cattle, in part due to efforts by federal and state agencies to maintain separation between these animals.[21] The state of Montana now allows bison to occupy some habitat adjacent to the park that was previously off-limits, including year-round in some areas, which is a major conservation advancement.[22] Large parts of their historic winter ranges are no longer available due to human development and states only allow limited numbers of bison in areas near the park.[28] Developing a quarantine program that complied with Montana state law was critical to getting brucellosis-free animals from Yellowstone to conservation herds.[13] During 2005–2012, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) developed and verified procedures for identifying Yellowstone bison that don't have brucellosis.[13] The initial plan was for the bison that completed the pilot program to be moved to public or tribal lands but the state was not ready to approve any of the proposed locations in 2010.After Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer invited Ted Turner to submit an offer to care for the animals, Turner Enterprises Inc. reached an agreement in February with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to care for the bison and their offspring for five years on a 12,000-acre fenced section (4,900 ha) of the Flying D ranch.[31] Sixty-three animals from the Yellowstone quarantine corrals were transferred in March to the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes who started a conservation herd at their Fort Peck Reservation.[29] A legal challenge blocked further transfers until the state supreme court ruled in June 2013 that the Montana law in question did not apply to tribal lands.[32] The state was asked to move the bison by November 2014 that been regularly tested for brucellosis while being quarantined on behalf of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at the Bozeman-area ranch owned by Ted Turner.[14] APHIS and the Montana Department of Livestock established the final structural specifications and biosecurity requirements for quarantine facilities in June 2017.Some large tracts of open range and natural habitat have been purchased by private individuals or groups to prepare for bison reintroduction.