Hundreds of years ago, there were millions of bison wandering the untamed expanses of North America. Unfortunately, the continent’s largest terrestrial mammals were on the verge of extinction. While there are only a few herds left in the country today, most of them in national parks and wildlife refuges, there is still one place where a wild herd roams freely.
Hundreds of years ago, there were millions of bison wandering the untamed expanses of North America. Unfortunately, the continent’s largest terrestrial mammals were on the verge of extinction. While there are only a few herds left in the country today, most of them in national parks and wildlife refuges, there is still one place where a wild herd roams freely.
“Fort Peck was the first to stand up and say we want to help. We want to restore these important bison back to their historic Great Plains home,” said Jonathan Proctor, Rockies and Plains program director with NGO Defenders of Wildlife, who joined the tribes’ efforts to brick the iconic animal back.
And to achieve that goal, those involved knew there is only one place from where they could get wild, undomesticated bison, Yellowstone’s herd. However, the mission wasn’t an easy one. The reason is the Yellowstone bison carry the disease brucellosis.
The Yellowstone bison originally contracted the disease from cattle in the early 20th century and now ranchers and state officials fear a return. Although scientists have never recorded brucellosis jumping from bison to cattle, it could be possible, the Guardian reported.
But that was only the beginning. Two years after, in 2014, 13 tribal nations have signed the ‘Buffalo Treaty.’
“We used to always have an empty chair for the buffalo, for the spirit of the buffalo [at the dialogues], in our talking circles. It’s hard to explain but the buffalo was basically asking us, ‘you know, I’ve been gone for 150 years, why do you want me to come back?” said Leroy Little Bear, a professor at the University of Lethbridge and a leader in the bison restoration efforts with the Blood Tribe.
And the treaty is already having an impact, as the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana recently welcomed 89 genetically pure bison from Canada’s Elk Island. More importantly, the tribe is attempting to persuade authorities to let the bison graze freely in Glacier National Park, which hasn’t seen a bison in more than a decade.
“Tribes of the northern plains are the lead in wild bison restoration right now. We’ll never see bison roaming the entire Great Plains again,” said Proctor. “We’ll never see 20 million to 30 million bison again. No one is trying to go back in time. We’re trying to go forward.
We’re trying to restore this important animal where we can, where people want them, and to the level where they will help restore the natural balance,” Proctor added.
“However it’s amazing…with limited budgets and widespread poverty, Native American tribes are the leader in wildlife restoration.”
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