Fund tries to save bison, mountain goats
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:
As ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press, the Fund
for Animals was scrambling to prevent the shooting of
from 80 to 150 bison who had wandered from Yellowstone
National Park into the Gallatin National Forest, north of
West Yellowstone, Montana. Montana state veterinarian
Clarence Siroky said state wardens would try to chase the
bison back into Yellowstone with helicopters, but would
shoot them to prevent the spread of brucellosis, a disease
causing stillbirths in cattle, if that tactic failed. Although
there is no evidence that bison can transmit brucellosis to
other species of cattle under natural conditions, and only a
small portion of the Yellowstone herd is believed to be
infected, Montana officials shot 420 bison who left the
park during the winter.
The Fund was also “exploring legal options” to
keep the National Park Service from shooting 180 to 250
mountain goats in Olympic National Park, Washington.
NPS officials say the goats are not native to the Olympic
peninsula, threaten rare plants, and are increasing in num-
ber. However, Roger Anunsen of The Fund in 1991 dis-
covered literature suggesting that mountain goats were pre-
sent on the Olympic peninsula as far back as 1886. The
Fund claims an NPS review of the historical evidence about
the goats improperly excluded the key documents.
