Yellowstone National Park is a beloved attraction throughout the United States. It is known for its natural beauty and abundance of wildlife, and it attracts thousands of nature enthusiasts each year. However, the park has a new set of plans for this winter and they are quite the opposite of the park’s nature-loving reputation. In fact, they may involve murdering up to 1,000 innocent bison, primarily females and calves. 

So why on earth would the park kill off so many of the wildlife residents the landmark is known for, potentially ruining its reputation?

Because Montana ranchers fear the disease brucellosis will spread from the wild Yellowstone bison to their local livestock population during their winter migration.

Brucellosis is a disease that can cause infertility, miscarriages and lowered milk production in cattle. This disease can also cause flu-like symptoms in humans, most commonly for those who may eat the meat of an infected animal.

The trepidation of these ranchers may be unwarranted. Brucellosis is not easily spread. In fact, there have been no natural transmissions of the disease from bison to livestock, according to the Gallatin Wildlife Association. The only proof of transmission has been during controlled, human-run experiments.  

The lack of transmission is due to the improbability of the circumstances needed to spread Brucellosis occurring. In order for an infection to propagate, a pregnant bison must have a live birth or an abortion on a rancher’s land. Then a farmer’s cattle or livestock must eat some of the contaminated discharge, in order to contract the bacteria.

Considering that most farmers and ranchers have some sort of fencing to prevent their cattle from wandering off the property, the chances of an infected bison reaching livestock are very low. Furthermore, the infected bison would have to be a pregnant female, making the probability of transmission even smaller. 

According to ABC News, Yellowstone National Park was home to about 5,000 bison this year. The park plans for local Native American tribes to kill 300 of the 1,000 bison and to have the rest slaughtered or taken away and used for research purposes. This mass killing would wipe out one-fifth of the current wild bison population in Yellowstone.

The National Park Service website states that 9 percent of the Yellowstone bison population perishes each winter because of natural causes such as starvation. This would eliminate even more of the few truly wild bison still living in the United States, after 1,000 are knowingly massacred.

Forbes quoted Sandy Snell-Dobert, a Yellowstone spokeswoman, on the matter.

“If there was more tolerance north of the park in Montana for wildlife, particularly bison as well as other wildlife, to travel outside the park boundaries, it wouldn’t be an issue,” Dobert said. 

This quote alludes to the reluctance of the park to commit this wide-spread murder. Yet, they still will do it in order to keep Montana’s agricultural business thriving without fear. While much of Montana supports killing the bison, spiritual leaders from Native American tribes such as the Blackfeet have spoken out against the horrific and unjustified action. 

In response, Montana governor Steve Bullock said Montana would allow the wild bison to migrate into the state when their population dropped to fewer than 3,500. While it is positive that the governor plans to let the bison in at some point, it is a tragic that their population has to dramatically fall in order for them to seek refuge. 

This mass killing of a thousand harmless bison is unnecessary and unjustifiable. While the fear of disease is generally legitimate, this particular case has been blown far out of proportion. Brucellosis poses very little threat to Montana’s livestock. Yet ranchers are choosing to leave Yellowstone’s bison out in the cold and put a thousand innocent lives on the line.