More than 100 Yellowstone bison were transferred last month to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeast Montana.
A news release from Yellowstone National Park says the move was the single largest transfer under the Bison Conservation Transfer Program, which relocates Yellowstone bison to Native American tribes around Montana and the country.
January’s transfer — conducted by the National Park Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service — moved a family group of seven males, 53 females and 52 calves. The bison – 112 in total – completed the first two phases of brucellosis quarantine protocol at Yellowstone National Park, and will complete Phase 3 assurance testing at Fort Peck.
The park’s bison transfer program began in 2018 and since 2019, has transferred nearly 300 bison from Yellowstone to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes at Fort Peck. Some of the bison have then gone on to tribes in 12 other states.
