Buffalo as wildlife not livestock

[AJMD429]

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I found this interesting - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-wy ... r-AA1Dkjok

(I thought they were 'bison' though, not 'buffalo'...)

It makes sense to me, but I don't live "out there" - anyone here have any thoughts...?

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

They are bison, most everyone here calls them buffalo. There are a lot of commercial bison operations in Wyoming, but there is a push in both Montana and Wyoming to have free running herds that are wildlife. The Crow have a similar operation near Hardin Montana and they sell and raffle hunts. Not sure what the Shoshone and Arapahoe plan is, but part of the deal is vaccinations or lack there of and brucellosis.

There are bison on the North Fork of the Shoshone east of Cody, but they are euthanized if they cross the forest boundary. They are treated as wildlife. Generally the game and fish will try to haze them back onto forest, but sometimes that doesn't work. I'm told this is because of the brucellosis issue. But probably also has to do with damage, as they are tough on fences and structures. Plus there are some cattle operations that are near the forest boundary. I've never seen a cow on the North Fork, only bulls, but I'm not sure why.

[JimT]

"Buffalo" is a colloquial term that was applied long before folks knew they were really "Bison." Our language is full of such things. I see people all the time writing "boolits" as if that were actually a word when the proper name is "projectiles." It's like calling the people who make laws and run the country "leaders" when they are really "politicians" or more properly "public servants."

[earlmck]

Yes, interesting. And I know they are technically "bison" but also call them "buffalo".

When the huge herds roamed the plains they were harassed by wolves and Indians and never spent much time in the same spot, so any given plot of land would be grazed and stomped-to-bejeezus only once every year or two or three. Perfect grassland management strategy! And that is what the sharpest of our livestock folks try to achieve these days -- as high a density as they can reasonably achieve with as short a duration. "Overgrazing" happens on a plant-by-plant basis when the same old grass plant gets bitten off several times during the growing season as it is trying to do its "life cycle" of Use energy to grow -- Make seeds -- Store energy back in roots for next year's cycle.'= Our grass plants have evolved to benefit from an occasional graze and stomp pattern.

Bison as wildlife have to use a different technique than the historic to avoid land degradation I would think since we no longer have huge herds with vast acreages over which to roam. Now you must count on just having waay more grass than buffs so they can wander around and seldom visit the same grass plant twice in a row. Bison are not functionally different from cattle and the same land management considerations will apply.

[Bill in Oregon]

I have been fascinated by bison all my life. My daughter is a geneticist for the USDA and is working specifically on the problem of brucellosis.
If anyone is interested in understanding the ecology of the prairies and the intimate role bison play, I simply cannot recommend strongly enough Dan O'Brien's book "Buffalo for the Broken Heart -- Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch."

[GunnyMack]

Here in NJ there is a buffalo farm. The fence is telephone poles about 8ft apart,6ft high, welded wire on both sides and just about every summer some nitwit with a camera gets over the fence and chased or trampled.
They are big bovines and a source of amazement to most. Awesome animals for sure.

[oldebear1950]

Was an article in the Alaska Magazine about 6 months ago, they were raffling off bison hunts on Kodiak, Island Alaska,

They are truely an awesome animals, and so are hugh bull moose.