The following is part of an article from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:
About 500 bison remain west of Yellowstone National Park, but Wednesday their time there will come to an end.
Low-flying helicopters and horseback riders will begin hazing the animals back into the park today, according to Steve Merritt, a spokesman for the Montana Department of Livestock.
The bison historically migrate outside park boundaries during the winter in search of food. But every spring, usually in mid-May, they’re hazed back into the park because of a fear that they will spread the disease brucellosis to cattle.
But while the state agency works to push the animals back into the park, an environmental group is racing to block its use of helicopters to haze bison, claiming the practice harms grizzly bears.
Michael Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said it requested a restraining order Tuesday that would temporarily keep helicopters from being used in the hazing operations. U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell can choose not to rule, or to grant or deny the request at any time, according to Garrity.
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Source: Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Posted by Haylie Shipp
