Buffalo

The head of Montana's wildlife agency has given preliminary approval to a plan calling for 74 bison from Yellowstone National Park to go to billionaire Ted Turner's private ranch. Officials hope to eventually use the bison to establish new herds on public lands. But conservationists see the move as privatizing Montana wildlife. The bison have been held in federal quarantine for the past several years to make sure they don't have the animal disease brucellosis. Turner offered to hold them for five years — the duration of the quarantine program — in exchange for keeping 90 percent of their offspring. That could amount to ... Read Full Story

The head of Montana's wildlife agency has signed off on a plan to send 74 bison from Yellowstone National Park to billionaire Ted Turner's private ranch. Ken McDonald with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks said Wednesday the animals could be moved by late February. The bison have been held in federal quarantine for the past several years to make sure they don't have the animal disease brucellosis. Turner offered to hold them for five years — the duration of the quarantine program — in exchange for keeping 90 percent of their offspring. Officials hope to eventually use the bison to establish new herds on ... Read Full Story

A coalition of environmental and American Indian groups say they have filed a suit against two federal agencies to stop the mass slaughter of bison that migrate outside Yellowstone National Park in search of food. During the last decade, federal agencies working with the state of Montana have captured and shipped to slaughter more than 3,300 bison to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis to cattle. A lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court asks for the National Park Service and Forest Service to be barred from participating in the program. The suit says the agencies are ignoring their responsibility to preserve the ... Read Full Story

Dozens of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park might be moved to a Montana ranch owned by billionaire Ted Turner, who plans to keep 75 percent of the offspring for commercial purposes. The animals were spared from a slaughter program meant to protect Montana's cattle industry from a disease carried by many buffalo. The plan was to use the spared animals that are considered disease free to repopulate public and tribal lands across the West. But offers to take the animals fell through or were judged insufficient, so officials said Tuesday that Turner's ranch was the best option. Conservationists and at least one federal ... Read Full Story

'Buffalo Battle' Airs on Discovery's Planet Green December 5 WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. Read Full Story