Q: Are bison an endangered species?
A: Bison are not listed as a threatened or endangered species. There are about 150,000 bison in public and private herds all across the United States. Currently, about 4,000 wild, free-ranging bison live in Yellowstone.

Q: Have bison always lived in Yellowstone?
A: Paleontological information and narratives from the earliest travelers to the region tell us bison have been here for centuries. Possibly thousands of bison lived here, and when the native herd was reduced to 23 in 1902, managers brought in 21 bison from two private herds and held them in a small pasture at Mammoth, separate from the native herd.

Q: What caused their numbers to become so low?
A: In the 1870s, market hunters and hide hunters had nearly eliminated bison on the plains, and they began harvesting the large game of Yellowstone; elk, bison, deer, and bighorn sheep. By 1894, only a few dozen bison remained, and even these were targeted by an enterprising poacher until he was captured by an Army scout.

Q: Then, how did the Army and the Park Service protect and manage the bison prior to 1967?
A: A strong law passed to protect park animals in 1894, and after 1900, the three surrounding states had adequate protective laws as well. With protection, the native herd began to increase. In 1907 the fenced herd was moved from Mammoth to the Buffalo Ranch at Lamar. At the Buffalo Ranch, more than 1,000 bison were managed like cattle in the 1920s. Meanwhile, the few remnants of the wild herd slowly increased and in the 1920s intermingled with plains bison from the Lamar Buffalo Ranch. In 1936, bison were trucked from Lamar to Mary Mountain to restore a population there. The ranching operation was phased out by 1952, when only 140 bison remained in the Lamar Valley. For another 15 years, bison, as well as elk, were reduced artificially, and 397 bison were counted parkwide in 1967.

Q: What are your management goals for bison in Yellowstone?
A: In the long term, we want to allow natural ecological processes to regulate this unique wild, free-ranging herd of bison.

Q: How many bison are there in the Yellowstone population?
A: The number of bison in the population fluctuates from year to year. The bison population increased from approximately 2200 in spring of 1997 to more than 4000 in 2003. The IBMP directs the interagency partnership to manage bison in a manner that the population will not drop below 2300 individual bison.

Q: What happens to them when they leave the protection of Yellowstone National Park?
A: In the past some bison have always wandered from Yellowstone into Montana. Bison are not always welcome outside the park for several reasons. They can damage fences and private property; they can hurt people and livestock, and there's the perceived risk of transmission of brucellosis to livestock.

If the agencies in charge of managing boundary area conflicts (MT @ West, NPS @ North) are unable to keep bison within acceptable tolerance areas through hazing of individuals and groups, they must capture the bison that remain beyond the boundaries of special management areas and test them for brucellosis. Bison that test positive on blood tests must be removed from the population and are shipped to slaughter plants for processing of the meat, hides, and skulls. Most bison remain within the park during the winter months.

Q: What can be done to keep bison or elk from passing brucellosis to livestock?
A: A risk management strategy that includes the separation of bison and cattle in time and space is being implemented to reduce the already low risk of disease transmission. We're working cooperatively with two state and two federal agencies to implement a management plan designed to preserve a free ranging population of wild bison. Risks to livestock can be lowered by vaccinating cattle in addition to keeping bison and cattle separated. These risks can be further lowered by vaccinating bison. Note: Yellowstone bison have never transmitted brucellosis to domestic cattle in the area surrounding Yellowstone National Park.

Q: What actions are being implemented on the ground?
A: Usually during the winter cooperating agencies monitor bison movements in the park; more intensively as bison move to and beyond park boundaries. As a first option the agencies may try to move bison by hazing. When bison leave the park and cannot be hazed, the agencies may capture and test them for exposure to brucellosis and ship seropositive bison to slaughter. When bison leave the park at the north or west boundary they are managed under the authority of Montana Department of Livestock. Bison sent to slaughter are donated to Native American tribes or social service organizations.

Q: Where can I find more information about the long-term bison management plan for Yellowstone and Montana?
A: The planning process resulted in a separate decision document being signed by the State of Montana and Federal partner agencies. The IBMP is being implemented cooperatively by all five agencies, each with separate and collaborative responsibilities.

The Executive Summary of FEIS can be found at: http://www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/bisoneisabstract.htm

The Federal Record of Decision can be found at:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/upload/yellbisonrod.pdf