Purebred Bison expansion?

Most of us are aware that we nearly exterminated the millions of Bison that existed from the Plains States clear across to our Eastern Appalachians by the dawn of the 20th Century. Many of us know that we staved off total extinction by saving a couple herds of these magnificent grazers in places like Yellowstone Park. What most of us do not know is that the Yellowstone Bison herd is one of a handful of purebred Bison exisiting in North America. Many of the other remnant Buffalo groups are hybrids with both Bison and domestic cattle genes. These "crosses" were bred for ranching with Stockmen feeling that they would be more maleable and easier to manage. With it historically felt that Bison transmit Brucellosis to cattle which causes them to abort calves, the purebred bison of yellowstone have been restricted from roaming outside the confines of the Park, with the result being outright slaughter of those animals who defy our man-made boundaries and seek available winter range grassland outside Yellowstone. Ted Turner who is the largest landowner in the USA with conservation easements on all of his million plus acre ranches has agreed to take in some of the so called surplus purebreds and prevent the annual shooting of these "Lords of the Prarie". The only problem is that some fear that Ted will breed these purebred with his existing "crossed" bison and thereby not truly expanding the range of these magnificent creatures. Never easy with "conservation transplanting"..............always competing agendas with ususally the animals as losers.

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