CORWIN SPRINGS, Mont. — For the first time since the 1800s, a small group of wild bison was herded Wednesday through fresh snow to reach the animals’ historical grazing grounds north of Yellowstone National Park.
As pronghorn and mule deer scattered to avoid the procession, park employees and state livestock agents on horseback pushed the 25 bison about 10 miles down the Yellowstone River valley to an open meadow in the Gallatin National Forest, where the animals will remain until spring.
The move could provide at least some relief from government-sponsored mass slaughters of the iconic Western animals. Past winter journeys by bison seeking to graze at lower elevations have been blocked over fears that brucellosis, a disease carried by some, could infect cattle. During the last major migration, in 2008, 1,600 Yellowstone bison were killed — about a third of the park’s total.
