The Real Victims Of Our Actual Weather

You remember our actual weather, such as the extremely harsh winter that still is causing havoc in many part of North America as we head into May?  Well, its effects have been devestating: Where The Buffalo Roam - And Die

 More than half of Yellowstone National Park's bison herd has died since last fall, forcing the government to suspend its annual slaughter program.

More than 700 of the iconic animals starved or otherwise died on the mountainsides during an unusually harsh winter, and more than 1,600 were shot by hunters or sent to slaughterhouses in a disease-control effort, according to National Park Service figures.

As a result, the park estimates its bison herd has dropped from 4,700 in November to about 2,300 today, prompting the government to halt the culling program early.

Evidently, the harsh winter has forced the buffalo to search for better grazing land which has led to their posing a threat to the business of cattle ranchers:

Bison graze high on Yellowstone's grassy plateaus during the summer. When the weather becomes too harsh and food becomes scarce, they often roam outside the park. That's the problem.

Nash explained the situation in its simplest terms:

"Bison are bison. Bison are nomadic animals. Bison are looking for food. Food is difficult and scarce to come by at the end of the winter. They're leaving the interior of the park [and going] to lower places, in part, to look for food. There's limited tolerance for bison outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park."

That's because just two cases of brucellosis would trigger stringent limits on export of cattle from Montana.

"Montana has spent millions of dollars over the years to get brucellosis eradicated from our livestock," said Martin Davis, who has a cattle ranch within roaming distance north of the park. "And to put that in jeopardy — no one wants that to happen."

Control of the bison population is essential, Davis said.

"Bottom line is, there's too many of them. They've got to be managed. They ran out of pasture. … They're eating themselves out of house and home."