Moiese, Mont. – A wild bison bound for Colorado didn’t see the point of being driven from an open field into a 5-foot holding pen Thursday where it was held before being loaded on a truck today for a 14-hour trip to Commerce City.
The reluctant 1,500-pound bull pawed the ground, snorted, bucked its head and cocked a back leg before slamming its hoof against the metal chute.
The bison is one of 16 being driven from the National Bison Range in western Montana to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, where they will be released into a 1,400-acre fenced area.
“These are definitely wild critters,” said Steve Kallin of the National Bison Range. “The guys have been doing everything they can not to get them aggravated. But this one …”
The bison were picked from the national herd of about 350 by their genetics, which show no indications of domestic- cow DNA.
It will be the first time in more than a century that a wild bison herd will roam the Colorado prairie outside of Denver.
Millions of bison once populated the North American prairie but were driven to near extinction in the 19th century by hunters.
An estimated 100 wild bison remained in 1908 when President Theodore Roosevelt established the 30-square-mile National Bison Range here in an effort to save the bison from extinction.
The preserve began with a handful of bison, purchased from two ranchers.
About 350 bison can live on the range, roaming free across the hilly terrain.
Every October, they are rounded up, and excess bison are either auctioned off to build private herds, given to tribes or sent to other federal wildlife refuges.
