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November 21, 2005

Where Will The Buffalo Roam?

When my little brother and I were younger, let's say about 10 and 6 years old, we had a dream. We would grow up and live together and adopt lots of puppies and kittens from shelters, to give them all homes. At the time, we saw it kind of cute like the 101 Dalmations or the Short Circuit movies. Now I cringe at what that would have cost in kitty litter, kibbles and vet bills.

Still, as we became adults, we certainly aquired significant numbers of pets. Ironically, no dogs or cats. I ended up with a herd of bunnies and assorted fish and a frog named Commander Toad. My brother, on the other hand, became a slave to his saltwater fishtank and a couple of lizards, dragons, and snakes, including a boa and a python.

After visiting South Africa, the concept of running a private wildlife park was still a bit tempting, a cool idea. But one thing is for sure - it has to be your primary passion, your primary focus. You need to have a very well-trained staff of animal care professionals, not to mention quite a lot of money.

So let's say you've dotted all your J's and crossed all your toes. You have the money to purchase some promising property and to maintain it as required. You've bought or acquired some animals for your land. You've got the backing of wildlife officials and possibly even a big financial and logistical backer. Let's also say you decided to do this in the big ole US of A and so you have property rights. So you're home free, right?

No. Not quite. Exotic "pets" require lots of permits and inspections and there's also the problem with insurance and liability. But what if you bought a big ranch in the Midwest and wanted to have your own buffalo herd. There are quite a few ranchers with such herds already, as there's an exotic meat market for it. Sure, it's nowhere near the cattle market but still, if you wanted to raise your buffalo herd and not eat it, it shouldn't be so difficult to set it up right?

No. Still, the answer is no. For some reason, even this is difficult. The World Wildlife Fund and the American Prairie Foundation found some prime prairie lands in Montana and proceeded to buy and lease up 5 ranches in the area in hopes to do just such a buffalo project. The ranches had been for sale for quite some time and no one else was interested. The conservationalists wanted to turn it into something of a buffalo refuge.

But some of the cattle ranchers don't like the idea and have protested. Some claim that the buffalo could be vectors for cattle-diseases, others express skepticism that the refuge will bring any money to the town for visitors.I guess I just don't understand. It's a fenced area. As long as it's a carefully, thoughtfully-run facility, why should the ranchers have any say whatsoever? Why can't a private operation do basically what they want on their land, provided they meet all the legal and ethical requirements? Provided they have the money. The negative arguments over the refuge felt about as odd a concept as me throwing a fit about the potential for catching bird flu when someone opens an ostrich farm in the next county.

Still, it has taken a lot more work than expected, but finally this past week, the buffalo refuge came through and the first mini-herd has been released onto their new range.

On Thursday, 16 buffalo will be released from a holding pen onto a portion of the nearly 32,000 acres of land that has been purchased or leased as the start of a wildlife reserve. The conservationists hope it will eventually grow to hundreds of thousands of acres.

...

The Montana project began four years ago when the World Wildlife Fund found mostly pristine prairie in a patchwork of public and private land neighboring the 1.1 million-acre Charles M. Russell Federal Wildlife Refuge. The array of plant and animals in the region of southern Phillips County ranged from bighorn sheep and elk to owls and hawks and fragrant sagebrush.

More At: MSNBC: Buffalo preserve takes shape in Montana

This news comes as the bison of Yellowstone National Park are being hunted for the first time in 15 years. You can find out more about why on National Geographic's Hunt Begins on Yellowstone's Bison.

Posted by sorsha at November 21, 2005 3:47 PM