TAILS FROM THE BISON HERD Over 30 million bison once roamed the Great Plains, but by the end of the 1800s, their population was decimated to just about 1000 animals. Those animals were captured, and often interbred with cattle to create more domestic bison and larger cattle. The Wind Cave National Park herd in South Dakota is one of only a few herds in the world that has never shown signs of cattle hybridization. In addition, this herd has one of the highest levels of unique genetic traits (16 alleles that can only be found in this herd alone). Scientists agree that a population of 1000 animals is needed for this herd to be genetically viable, however given Wind Cave National Park’s size, the herd can only grow to about 500 animals within the parks boundaries. That is where The Nature Conservancy stepped in as a partner. The Conservancy now has five herds located throughout the Great Plains that are solely made up of bison from Wind Cave to help grow the herd’s overall numbers and conserve these rare and unique genetics. Last week, 103 animals were sent from Wind Cave to five satellite herds of The Nature Conservancy’s in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and South Dakota! This video is our chapter herd unloading at their new home, and finding their way out to pasture.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 23:00:00 +0000
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