BILLINGS — Thirty-three Yellowstone National Park bison now call the Fort Peck Reservation home.
On Monday evening, 14 cows, 14 calves and five bulls were brought into the tribe's quarantine facility, according to Jestin Dupree, a Fort Peck tribal councilman. The tribes are able to keep live animals that come from the park in an effort to curb the spread of brucellosis, according to the National Park Service.
Each year, hundreds of bison are captured and sent to slaughter because Yellowstone can only hold a certain amount of animals in quarantine. This quarantine is important because it's illegal to move wild bison exposed to brucellosis anywhere except to meat-processing and research facilities.
These bison have been deemed disease-free and can now move out of the park and into a larger area.
The first transfer of 55 bison was completed in August.
