Genesee Park – The youngest members of Denver’s bison herd had a bad day Tuesday, getting shots against diseases, tags in the ear and identifying tattoos.
The process prepares the calves for the annual auction of the city’s excess bison. This year’s auction is set for March 9.
Inoculation day was Tuesday at Genesee Park, home to a city bison herd for the past 93 years.
Another Denver herd is billeted at Daniels Park in Douglas County.
One by one, the 10-month-old animals were moved from a pen, through a chute to Golden veterinarian John Pallaoro, who has been giving the beasts shots for three decades.
Denver started the herd in 1914 as a way to preserve an animal that was disappearing from the Western landscape.
“The objective is still the same,” said A.J. Tripp-Addison of the city’s parks and recreation department. “We want people to come here and see a good representation of a bison herd years from now.”
The two parks can support only two dozen bison apiece, so extra animals born every year are sold off to private ranchers.
“These have good bloodlines,” Tripp-Addison said. “We’ve made some really good improvements to the genetic base.”
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer may be reached at 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
