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A federal agency recently collected semen samples from 39 bison bulls outside Yellowstone National Park, the beginning of a two-year study intended to measure the risk of venereal transmission of brucellosis between wild bison and domestic cattle. Researchers call the fieldwork a success, but the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC), an organization that works to protect wild bison, condemns the study as abusive.
"It's pretty invasive and extremely unnecessary," says BFC's Stephany Seay.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in April began darting and drugging bison bulls on Gallatin National Forest land outside Yellowstone's boundary, and then probing their anuses to induce ejaculation. Researchers then painted the animals with a blue stripe to prevent repeat sampling.
"We use what's called an electro-ejaculator," explains Ryan Clarke, APHIS's epidemiologist in the greater Yellowstone area. "There's a probe that's inserted into their anus and sits over their sexual glands—the prostate and the bulbourethral gland—and it sends a small current through those glands to simulate coitus. When that's passed through those glands, they get excited, and the animal ejaculates into a container."
The samples, Clarke says, are sent to APHIS's lab in Ames, Iowa, to be tested for Brucella abortus, the causative agent of bovine brucellosis, a bacterial infection that causes cattle, elk and bison to abort their young.
Both BFC and APHIS suspect the study will ultimately show that bison pose a negligible risk of sexually transmitting brucellosis—which is why Seay calls the study unwarranted.
"It's something that's already widely accepted as an immeasurable risk," she says, "so we feel the study is completely senseless."
Still, the invasive anal probing, researchers say, may prove to be an act of love.
"I think at the end of this study there's a very real possibility that we'll reinforce the idea that bull bison have negligible risk as far as transmitting brucellosis," Clarke says. "And if that is in fact true, then I think it opens up the discussion for more bull bison tolerance."
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Thanks for writing this story. Not very many people know about this APHIS study, and they certainly tried very hard to keep it a low profile while public comments were being accepted.
This raping of the bulls is shameful. And there's no reason to believe that APHIS (fully invested in livestock interests) would try to reveal anything that would benefit wild buffalo.
APHIS has tried to get permits from Yellowstone National Park for Phase II of the study, but Yellowstone thankfully has refused them numerous times. It's interesting that APHIS decided to move ahead with Phase I when they don't have permission to do Phase II. Government intelligence, I suppose.
Also, the last two bulls that were molested by APHIS, up near Gardiner, were shot the same day by the MT Department of Livestock. The drugs APHIS uses causes excitement, anger and aggression.... these two bulls woke up after being "tested" and they were pissed. They headed north for the Paradise Valley, made it to Yankee Jim Canyon, where the Park Service tried to haze them back to the park. The bulls were having none of it. The DOL came out and said they tried the same, and the bulls didn't want to have a thing to do with them either. So the DOL shot them. APHIS is directly responsible for their deaths.
Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks issued the permit to APHIS to conduct the study on Gallatin National Forest. FWP can revoke that permit and I certainly hope that they have the good sense to do so. Please contact Pat Flowers, FWP Region 3 Director, and ask him to revoke the APHIS permit for the bull bison semen study. 994-4050.
Somebody obviously LIKES buggering bull bison. If it proves the bulls pose no risk of passing brucellosis, I call it a win for every animal involved. Should certain associations that oppose wild bison disregard this study, I propose they re-do it. Only without the "electro-ejaculator" so they're left to harvest bull bison semen by their own devices. (-;
It would be interesting to know where 'Roam Free' and 'nateschweber' live.
Chances are that THEY have displaced the wildlife that was there 150 years ago, and that THEY would call FWP if a mountain lion or grizzley bear were to begin camping in THEIR yard. What would be THEIR response if a wolf were to eat THEIR dog?
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