BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Yellowstone National Park has begun shipping wild bison for slaughter as part of a plan to reduce the park's population by as many as 900 animals this winter.
More than 100 bison captured near the park's northern border with Montana were removed from holding pens Wednesday, loaded onto trailers and shipped off, according to the Buffalo Field Campaign, a wildlife advocacy group.
There were 4,900 bison in the park last summer. For more than two decades, officials have tried to curb the animals' winter migration into Montana to guard against potential disease transmission to livestock.
Park spokesman Al Nash confirmed the shipments of animals for slaughter, but said the number was fewer than 100. He declined to give a specific figure and said the park no longer plans to offer timely updates on how many bison are captured and shipped.
The information instead will be posted on a bi-weekly basis to an interagency bison management website. Nash said information on how many animals are being held also would be released on a bi-weekly basis.
"There will be additional bison captured in coming weeks but it's impossible to predict when and how many," Nash said.
The bison taken Wednesday were turned over to American Indian tribes. Their meat will be distributed to tribal members.
Citing its own monitoring, the Buffalo Field Campaign estimated that 160 bison remained at Yellowstone's Stephens Creek capture facility after the shipments.