Yellowstone bison hunt generates controversy, court battle – By Jean Lotus (UPI) / Nov 18 2019
DENVER, Nov. 18 (UPI) — Bison that leave Yellowstone National Park’s safety zone face being shot at close range in a yearly hunt characterized by nearby Montana residents as a slaughter, and a federal judge has declined to temporarily stop the event.
The Beattie Gulch bison hunt has been held for years, but this year opponents tried to stop it with a federal lawsuit, claiming it was dangerous and gruesome and destroyed tourist business.
Members of Indian tribes with treaty-granted rights travel hundreds of miles to Gardiner, Mont., to participate in the hunt. Some tribe members say they don’t want to give up a sacred and ceremonial event, but add they find the hunt degrading for humans and the bison.
The Beattie Gulch shootouts create a “kill-box mentality” and are a convenient way for National Park Service and Montana state officials to cull the bison population, said James Holt, a former Nez Perce tribal council member and executive director of the Buffalo Field Campaign.
“The federal government is just utilizing the tribes as a management tool, rather than supporting responsibility to have a humane hunt. Tribes are caught in the crossfire of that bison management mode,” he said.
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