Kill bison lottery: National Park Service garners those ‘good with guns’ to cull herd

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The National Park Service (NPS) has been looking for volunteers who are “good with guns” to kill bison in the Grand Canyon. Currently statistics state there are 600 bison in the area, and wildlife personnel say there must be 200 or less to adequately maintain a sustainable habitat. Wildlife experts predict the current herd could grow to 1,500 if left unchecked.

The Flagstaff area bison are descendants of those introduced to northern Arizona in the early 1900s as part of a ranching operation to crossbreed them with cattle. Now owned by the state of Arizona, there is an annual draw for tags on the Kaibab National Forest where 1,500 people have applied for one of 122 tags this year, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Hunters are only allowed to kill one bison in their lifetime which makes the prospect even more exciting to those who like to hunt.

“The Grand Canyon is still working out details of the volunteers effort, but it’s taking cues from national parks in Colorado, the Dakotas and Wyoming that have used shooters to cut overabundant or diseased populations of elk,” the NPS stated on their website.

The park is off limits to hunters where the bison currently live. The most recent plan includes a hunter teaming up with a “Park Service employee to shoot bison using non-lead ammunition” because of the presence of the California condors. Hunters will have to pass rigorous health tests to ensure they are able to hike several miles a day and shoot at a precise target.

Some bison will be transferred to other areas. According to the USA Today, Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club says she’s hopeful the staff at the Grand Canyon will focus mostly on non-lethal removal.

As to what would happen to the heads, hide and meat from the bisons? State officials have stated they would be given to state agencies and tribes or even split among the volunteers.

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10 COMMENTS

  1. Exactly who does this so called ‘Park Service’ actually serve? The friggin’ hunters who PAY to kill these animals who are an American icon – another example of MONEY over lives – to maintain a sustainable habitat is nothing for than a bunch of bullshit excuse.

  2. Man says —KILL IT. It is just an animal. Cruel, cold and sick. Who wants to be around killers? Good people prefer kindness. These innocent bison have feelings. They have family. They have pain and suffering same as you and I..

  3. This is happening even as our government has refused to let a number of American Indiana tribes hunt (and they hunt for survival). Horrible!

  4. Who decides that 200 is the amount that can be in the Park and they refuse to let a number of American Indian tribes to hunt? Better explanations on this hunt needs to keep us informed.

  5. By all means…. give the low life hunters an easy mark. This makes me ill. Towns, cities, states should be ASHAMED…. leave these animals alone! They were not placed on earth as a “sport” for needy men and women who like to murder things…… and call it sport. IT IS NOT SPORT…. it is murder of a living, breathing, thing.

  6. Too disgusting to even make a decent statement. the park service thinks the only way to solve a problem is to KILL IT. God only knows now much I hate humans. We should start protest these idiots that come up with these ideas.

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