Part 2 to come: Wood Bison in Alaska
Part 3 to come: Wood Bison in Canada

Wood Bison are the largest land mammal in North America.

Adult males stand 6 feet tall at the shoulder and measure 10 feet long.

This is about one-third larger than the Plains Buffalo.

The Wood Buffalo are also considerably heavier.

Parks Canada maintains a bison weight database going back to 1956.

During all that time, the records show only one Plains Bison bull that weighed more than a ton (2000 pounds or 909 kg).

At the same time–when fully grown—one-third of the Wood Bison bulls exceeded this weight.

Wood Buffalo females are considerably smaller than bulls, generally weighing around 1,200 pounds.

Wood Bison are about 15 percent heavier than Plains Bison.

Scientists say the larger size is an adaptation to the more extremely long-lasting and cold climate of the far north.

Historically, Wood Bison range extends through the boreal forests of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and much of the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska, as in the above map.

Boreal forests are defined as forests growing in high-latitude environments where freezing temperatures occur for 6 to 8 months and in which trees are capable of reaching a minimum height of 5 m and a canopy cover of 10 percent.

The Wood Bison is often distinguished by his taller, more box-like hump that has its highest point well ahead of his front legs.

Parks Canada suggests this kind of hump has evolved in the Wood Bison to support a more massive muscle structure that helps them sweep their head through deep northern snows to provide more access to the grasses and sedges beneath the snow in a long winter.

By contrast, the highest point of the Plains Bison’s hump is directly above the front legs, with the hump more smoothly rounded.

This accomplishes the same result—as a structure to sweep away snow. However, the snow tends not be as deep, long-lasting and formidable in their usual range as that which hits farther north.

Below are noted distinctions between Wood Buffalo and Plains Buffalo as presented by Parks Canada.

WOOD BISON

• Highest point of hump well forward of front legs
• Virtually no chaps on front legs
• A thin scraggly beard
• Neck mane short, does not extend much below chest
• Cape grades smoothly back towards the loins with little if any demarcation
• Forelock lies forward in long strands over forehead
• Hair usually darker, especially on head

PLAINS BISON

• Highest point of hump is directly over the front legs
• Large thick chaps on front legs
• Thick pendulous beard
• Full neck mane extends below the chest
• Sharply demarcated cape line behind the shoulder
• Thick bonnet of hair between the horns
• Cape usually lighter in color
• About one-third smaller than a Wood Bison

In addition to size and hump distinctions the differences between Wood and Plains Bison can be separated into pelage and structural characteristics.

The Wood Bison is distinguished by darker color, absence of chap hair on the front legs, and a less distinct, but darker cape of the shoulders, hump, and neck region that grades smoothly back onto the loins.

They have a thin pointy beard; shorter and less dense hair on the top of the head, around the horns, and beard. A skimpy neck mane and longer and more heavily haired tail.

Their head is large and triangular, with large shoulders and long dark brown and black hair around head and neck.

Males possess short, thick, black horns that end in an upward curve, while females have thinner, more curved horns.

Wood Bison vocalizations are also different from the sounds made by Plains Bison. And the Wood Bison’s social interactions during the rut tend to be less violent.

Hardy from birth, Wood Bison calves can stand when they are only 30 minutes old and run alongside their mothers within hours of birth.

Plains Bison tend to have hair character which is lighter, larger and more obvious—with more variation in color. A yellow-ochre cape spreads over the shoulders and ends with noticeable separation in texture and color.

They grow a thick bonnet of hair between the horns, covering the lower horns, and a full neck mane extending below the chest.

The Plains Bison sport a full beard and large chaps on the front legs, and the tail is short and thin.

For their part, the National Park Service in the United States offered these 2 sketches in a Bison Bellows feature in April 2018.

Wood Buffalo

• Highest point of hump forward of front legs
• More abrupt change of contour along back
• Tail longer and more heavily haired
• Penis sheath tuft shorter and thinner
• Horns clear of hair cover
• Hair on forehead lower and longer
• Neck region longer than in Plains Bison
• Absence of chaps

Plains Buffalo

• Highest point of hump over front legs
• Declining back slope
• Tail shorter and thinner
• Penis sheath tuft longer and thicker
• Horn often covered by dense hairs
• Yellow-ochre cape
• Sharp separation from cape in texture and color
• Chaps (skirt)
• Larger beard

Two Subspecies Recognized

Modern American buffalo are identified in 2 subspecies well suited to their respective environments.

The prolific Plains Buffalo grazed throughout the open country and the shy Wood Buffalo clustered in small groups in forest and mountain terrain, especially favoring the far north.

Under scientific classification, the American Plains Buffalo is listed as genus Bison, species bison bison, and subspecies Bison bison bison.

The Wood Buffalo is Bison bison athabascae, named for an Indian word, a lake.

“Athabascae” recognizes the Cree native name for the large Lake Athabasca and surrounding watershed in Canada. Athap-ask-a-w means grass or reeds here and there.

Interestingly, early scientists of the 19th century marked these differences and gave the two subspecies their scientific names.

It was thought that Wood Buffalo were “the finest specimens of their species, superior in pelage, size, and vigor to those of the Plains whose descendants today exist in our parks.”

Then came a time of debate. Many argued the differences were not genetic, but simply a function of the environment where they live.

However, a large-scale study in the early 1990s analyzed Canadian data and found the two subspecies maintain their respective traits regardless of where they live and what they eat.

More recent research at the University of Alberta reveals genetic differences, thus supporting those early scientists. Sufficient difference was found between Wood Bison and Plains Bison, it was thought, to warrant two different subspecies names.

Yet scientists have discussed through the years whether the two subspecies are simply ecotypes.

In other words, if Wood Bison were placed in Plains Bison habitat, or vice versa, might they eventually assume the traits of typical Bison there, simply due to environmental pressures?

 Subspecies Still Questioned

Science, of course, is always open to revision.

Not all scientists agree with the subspecies designation.

One who disagrees is Matthew Cronin, University of Alaska Fairbanks professor of animal genetics. He is based at the Matanuska Experiment Farm in Palmer.

In 2013, Dr. Cronin and colleagues studied 65 Wood Bison from 3 herds and 136 Plains Bison from 9 herds in Alaska, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, New York, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, along with a database of differing cattle breeds.

The Cronin findings are published in the online May 10, 2013 issue of the Journal of Heredity. http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/05/09/jhered.est030.abstract?sid=6fde43b1-288b-4d53-adae-61cc2628db1e

Cronin pointed out that the term subspecies denotes a formal category and that evolutionary history is a primary criterion for subspecies designation.

For instance, European cattle and tropical cattle have separate origins, are genetically distinct and thus have a scientifically supported subspecies designation, he says.

“This creates a paradox for biologists because subspecies can be designated by one author, rejected by another and still others reject the entire subspecies ranking.”

He contends that Wood and Plains Bison originally had ranges adjacent to each other, rather than separate origins.

Therefore they should be considered differing geographic populations, not subspecies.

He notes that some Plains Bison are more genetically different from each other than they are from Wood Bison.

Despite Cronin’s evidence, Parks Canada and conservation groups in Alaska operate under the guideline that Wood Bison are a distinct and separate subspecies and ideally, should not be hybridized with Plains Bison.

Spokesperson Cathy Rezabek says that US Fish and Wildlife contends the two groups of bison are separate.

“We based our finding on the scientific information available, which indicated that there has been historical physical separation in their ranges, as well as behavioral and physical differences and genetic differences. “

In this light, bison conservationists agree on several things, she noted:

1) Multiple morphological and genetic characteristics distinguish Plains Bison from Wood Bison;

2) Wood Bison and Plains Bison continue to be morphologically and genetically distinct, despite some historic forced hybridization; and thus

3) Wood Bison constitute a subspecies of bison, and therefore, should be managed on a par with Plains Bison.

An eminent Canadian wildlife biologist once observed that “debating taxonomy does not absolve humans of the responsibility to protect intra-specific diversity as the raw material of evolution.”

Another suggests that the Wood Bison population is in a class by itself, “Worth preserving whether or not they are formally recognized as a subspecies.”

Therefore, park authorities keep separate the two subspecies to retain their natural traits.

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

Harvey was an orphan buffalo who thought he was a horse, according to his owner, trainer and jockey Collin ‘TC’ Thorstenson and many fascinated spectators who watched him race.

Thorstenson said he was raised on a Sioux Indian reservation in the hills of North Dakota, was always fond of animals and trained small pets as a youngster.

He drove coal trucks in Wyoming and became a jockey and trainer.

Harvey’s story began in 1980 when his mother was shot by a poacher.

TC, who at that time worked on the Milwaukee Railroad, rescued the orphaned buffalo

Thorstenson kept the little guy in his car and bottle-fed him several times a day—whenever he took a break.

“He was just 35 pounds back then, and I fed him by a bottle until he was a year and a half,” he said.

“I carried him in the back of my car until he got to be about 250 pounds.”

As Harvey graduated to living in a barn, he followed Thorstenson around like a dog.

But when TC left the young buffalo alone in the barn, he was not happy. When he grew restless he kicked and slammed his body at the divider wall of his stall.

“I named him Harvey Wallbanger because he was always banging his body against the wall of the pen,” said Thorstenson.

As he grew to full size, his owner rigged a kind of saddle to fit and climbed on.

Harvey took well to being ridden and the two began performing at rodeos.

Audiences loved him and by 1985 their interest was enough to get Harvey invited to race at Energy Downs in Gillette, Wyoming.

Harvey Wallbanger made his 6-year-old racing debut under the name “TC and Harvey” in a 110-yard exhibition race against a quarter horse on a real racetrack.

He competed against a horse that was bred for speed and less than half his weight.

Harvey won the race by 2½ lengths and that’s where the legend began.
“It was a great attraction for race tracks because it got young, more enthusiastic, kids out there to watch him do his thing,” Thorstenson said.

Next they travelled to Miles City, Montana, and raced for the second time.

Harvey’s Natural Desire was to Win

Harvey would burst through the starting gate, lean toward the rail and run along it as hard as he could to the finish line.

Thorstenson’s buffalo had a natural desire to win.

TC told the Farm Show in 1989 that about half his audience came to see a buffalo. “The other half came to see Harvey win.”

Most people had never seen a buffalo, and Harvey was one of the only racing buffalos of his time.

“There are two or three other trained buffalo in North America, but Harvey is the only one that races competitively,” TC explained.

“A buffalo’s wild instincts make it difficult to break, and not all of them are trainable.

“Even Harvey may never be completely trustworthy. Buffalo are strong enough to flip a horse off the ground and kill it with their sharp horns. I could have trained 40 good horses during the time I spent training Harvey.”

His best race was the 110-yard race. He covered the distance in 10.14 seconds. Usually it was an exhibition race with no betting allowed.

Because of his size, snorting and unique smell, most competing horses were afraid to get near him, so he had an advantage running alone there on the rail.

Harvey Wallbanger was led into the starting gate on a 40-foot rope.

As the flashy showman, Thorstenson waved his cowboy hat as he rode into the chute.

“It’s tight,” he said. “But he’ll fit if he inhales on the way in and exhales on the way out.

“Most horses get nervous when they see the buffalo because of his quick movements and unusual sounds, so Harvey usually runs on the rail.”

Electrifying speed out of the gate was his secret weapon

Weighing in at over a ton, he was a pleasure to watch.

As TC told the audience, “He’s a ton of fun and he thinks he’s a horse.”

Skeptics cast Doubt

Some in the stands questioned the quality of Harvey’s competition and the actual integrity of his races. They suggested that the horses let Harvey win on purpose.

One writer charged that “Harvey travelled with horses he could outrun. I think the wrangler brought 3 with him to Portland.”

Another wrote, “The Jockey is holding that horse back! Cool story—but I very much doubt that bison ever beat a good healthy horse.”

On another day a journalist sympathized with Harvey’s loss.

“I watched one of Harvey’s races from 1988, where he was racing two quarter horses. Although he tried, he just never got that load moving and he lost,” he wrote.

“It was bizarre to see a 1-ton monster chugging down the lane, and it just wasn’t a very pretty race, no matter how you looked at it.”

 Other sports writers defended Harvey’s racing style.

“Watched this race at Thistledown in North Randall. GREAT MEMORY!” One reported.

 “I saw this race, it was at Golden Gate Fields, late 70s early 80s or so. Buffalos are FAST,” wrote another.

 

Sometimes Harvey raced against Thorstenson’s own horses, but he also raced against full tracks of quarter horses.

Pete Monaco, writing sports for The Spectrum, wrote this about Harvey Wallbanger in a story written after his death, titled The Eighth Pole on Aug 18, 2018.

“Being a racing buffalo, Harvey automatically captured the attention of most people—but he also captured their hearts.

“TC seemed to have his hands full before, during and even after the race. To claim the fix was in, concerning a non-wagering event that involved a buffalo seems a bit ridiculous.”

Added Monaco, “I did watch another race

where I swear he stretched his neck out at the wire to win by a long buffalo nose over three horses in a photo finish!

“All contestants were within a half-length of each other at the finish, and Harvey dug in gamely on the rail to get the victory.

“This race was actually a beautiful thing. And I might’ve watered up a bit from the effort of this animal on that day,” he confessed.

End of a Promising Career

TC moved to Arizona and became a regular with his buffalo showing up at Arizona Rattlers Arena Football League games.

Unfortunately, Harvey’s career ended abruptly at the age of 13.

In 1991 he died after eating contaminated hay in Tuscon, Arizona.

TC was devastated and sued Kenny and Jimmy Murdock, who furnished feed for the rodeo.

In court the Murdocks conceded that oleander, a decorative and poisonous bush, probably got mixed in with the hay.

TC won his case and was awarded $475,000 in damages.

He started over by training a young buffalo he called Harvey Wallbanger Junior.

“My buffalo aren’t just buffalo,” he said. “They are family members.”

But Junior wasn’t interested in winning. He refused to grab the rail or run hard to stay ahead of the race horses.

However, he found his niche acting in movies and commercials and promoting rodeos and sporting events around the nation for a time.

But Junior also died too soon—of a virus that is unique in affecting American bison from infected sheep.

Thorstenson married Times newspaper heiress Margaret Lesher in 1996, when she grew  enamoured with the flamboyant cowboy showman.  

Together they purchased a Scottsdale ranch, where he kept a small herd of buffalo, and dealt in real estate in Arizona.

 

 

Unfortunately, Lesher drowned during a camping trip, which cast some suspicion for a time on her new husband, who was much younger.

TC moved to the upscale town of Cave Creek, where he attempted to bring a Western venue that would feature events such as mounted shooting, barrel racing and other western events.

His efforts finally came to fruition with the opening of a Western restaurant, bar and venue he called Hogs and Horses.

In his new digs, TC Thorstenson was described thus:

“He is the buffalo stuntman who rides a 2,800-pound beast through rings of fire. He’s the mounted shooter with the arena behind the Roadhouse saloon.

“He’s a horse whisperer to some, a drinking buddy to others and, as the local newspaper tells it, he is ‘rapidly becoming a Cave Creek land baron.’

“On a warm Tuesday night in April, he works the crowd in woolly chaps and a stars-and-stripes western shirt.

“He holds a revolver on his belt, a buffalo on a rein and a wide grin across his face as he poses at a living history attraction west of town.

“Now it’s Thursday, and he’s on stage, nominated for local ‘Horse Hero’ of 2007.

“Come Saturday, it’s up in the saddle for the annual Fiesta Days parade. He hoists an American flag on a pole as he clops past the Horny Toad saloon and its knowing rival, the Satisfied Frog.

“’Check it out, folks! There’s a shooting match after the parade, behind the Roadhouse,’ he announces. ‘Come and watch it!’ ”

He once sponsored a ‘Running with the Bulls-U.S.A.,’ a tamer version of Pamplona, Spain’s annual nine-day festival of San Fermin.

Ever the showman, TC continued to train and show buffalo.

His favorite, Harvey had enjoyed great success in America, Canada and Mexico.

His best year was in 1990, when he ran in 20 races and earned $108,000.

He won 79 races in 93 starts running against all comers—quarter horses, thoroughbreds and harness racers.

Unfortunately, TC never again found a buffalo with a genuine desire to win his race—who could take the place of his beloved Harvey Wallbanger.

 

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

We’ve reported stories to you in this space about the early days of hard-riding buffalo wranglers running half-wild buffalo. Some amusing. Some tragic.

Often, they rounded-up and stampeded buffalo into makeshift corrals and loaded them into boxcars in some of the roughest ways possible, even dragging them at the end of several ropes.

At the time, it seemed to men who were used to working cattle like the only way to get the job done was to run the buffalo hard, and stay ahead of them.

I know this has been painful for some of our readers. You visualized all too clearly how violently the wild buffalo were sometimes treated. You mourned that some buffalo in their extreme panic simply died a sudden death.

Buffalo are powerful animals and it was also dangerous for the people handling them. Many riders and horses have been injured or even killed.

In the early days of buffalo ranching, hard-riding cowboys expected these half-wild animals to respond like the cattle that they are not.

When they didn’t, they probably shouted louder, swung their ropes higher and ran the animals harder.

I think you’ll be happy to know that today buffalo are not handled that way.

With buffalo, owners have learned to do the job the buffalo’s way—or get little or nothing accomplished.

As Tim Frasier, buffalo consultant, says, “Bison producers, by and large, are extremely conscious of humane protocol because the species dictates that the producer work with them.”

Ranchers and buffalo managers have learned that buffalo are like wild animals—subject to flight or fight reactions when startled or pushed too hard.

In important ways they are still the undomesticated wild animals they’ve always been. They need to be handled more delicately than cattle.

Imagine Handling Wild Deer

Think about chasing wild deer. How would you go about chasing a herd of 3 or 4 mule deer through a gate out of an alfalfa field?

We certainly wouldn’t use the old-style cowboy tactics—just running them hard toward the gate—would we?

I think our goal instinctively would be to not crowd them—stay back. To move quietly, so as not alarm them. Allow them time to decide how to respond.

Knowing that if we rush them, some of the deer are going to lunge for the fence—over or under, or slam bang into it.

I’m no expert, but have done considerable reading on the topic, as well as trailed a lot of cows.

So let’s go to the experts to learn how to keep buffalo stress levels low.

Instead of running at the deer, it would make sense to hang back and give them time to decide. Maybe then they’d take the easy way—and just trot out through the open gate.

Low Stress Handling

The most important trait for the buffalo handler is calmness, experts say. Establish yourself at the top of the pecking order in a calm and confident way.

For the new buffalo owner or herd manager, whether of a small or large herd, there’s plenty to learn in raising these amazing, magnificent animals.

The modern way of handling buffalo fascinates new owners and old hands alike. With roots in “horse-whispering” techniques, it’s called low-stress livestock handling.

The goal is to develop a calm herd, with the animals content and unafraid.

Fearful buffalo cause great risk both to themselves and humans, warns Dr. Temple Grandin, a well-known expert on animal behavior in the Department of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University, Ft Collins.

She’s a scientist who understands autism and applies some of the related philosophy in her work.

As wild animals, she explains, buffalo are always on the alert for danger, and ready to respond with fight or flight. When alarmed, fear shoots adrenaline through their system and they are ready to react.

People who work with buffalo need to watch for signals of fear, Grandin says. The first subtle signs are licking, blinking, huddling, a raised tail, circular movement—milling—backing up and balking.

As fear and panic increase, so do signs such as hard breathing, frothing at the mouth, vocalizing, bulging eyes, running, pushing, goring, attacking, sitting, jumping or scrambling free of their enclosure.

The last stage of fear is immobility, lying down without responding to stimuli or prodding.

Paying close attention to these signals and responding appropriately teaches buffalo what behavior is wanted. Then they need the opportunity to do it willingly, Grandin says.

The key to helping buffalo understand this is skilled use of their comfort or flight zone, according to Mark Kossler, manager of the Vermejo Park Ranch, New Mexico, writing in the most recemt Bison Producers’ Handbook, published by the National Bison Association.

“The gentle dance of us applying pressure, the animal moving away from the pressure and us releasing the pressure, is the main method of getting our animals to move for us in a low stress manner,” Kossler tells buffalo ranchers.

“This sets up a positive cause and effect relationship. That is, we get into their flight zone putting pressure on them, and they, by moving away from us get released from the pressure.”

The flight zone is the personal space of a buffalo and may differ somewhat for each animal.

An alarm goes off in its brain when someone enters that personal space. The optimal handler position is at the boundary of that zone. This allows him or her to manipulate the animal in a low stress manner.

In moving buffalo, another sensitive place is the balance point at their shoulder.

Movement behind the shoulder causes the animal to go forward. Ahead of that point and it typically moves back.

What causes high stress, Kossler warns, is “putting pressure on them and never releasing it. Or worse, no matter what they do, continually increasing the pressure.”

Too much pressure and the buffalo panics. If unable to escape, he will fight ferociously.

Low stress means handlers work quietly and smoothly.

Former cattlemen have learned what not to do with their buffalo: stop yelling, moving fast or erratically, following a rushed schedule, or “forcing” the buffalo. Instead, they give them time to think it over and respond calmly.

Grandin recommends that the crowding pen should never be filled more than 1/3 full at any given time. By providing sufficient room, the bison are able to maintain their dominant order relative to one another. This reduces stress and intra-herd conflicts.

“When bison are tightly confined with other bison, their fear manifests as aggression in the form of goring and pushing those around them. Bison that are to be held in close proximity to other bison should be held with similar bison of the same age and gender.”

On the other hand, buffalo are herd animals and fear being alone in a pen.

Grandin also points out, “The first experience an animal has in a new situation is the foundation for subsequent behaviors in similar situations. If the first time a bison enters a squeeze chute—bad things happen to him, he will be reluctant to re-enter.”

“But if the first few times he enters, the experience is neutral or positive, he will be more inclined to reenter the chute.

“Likewise, if the last experience the animal has just prior to leaving a facility is positive, such as receiving a highly palatable food reward, the animal will be more receptive to being worked the next time.”

If the handler tries to get buffalo to move by electric shock, yelling, or arm waving, which are all at the extreme end of the pressure gradient, warns Grandin, the bison will immediately become fearful. This fear results in a traumatic experience for the bison and often the handler.

Because of their ability to hear higher and lower frequencies than humans, she suggests that subtle sounds are often effective to move animals forward. The best are novel noises; a rustling newspaper or plastic bag, snapping of the fingers, pennies in an aluminum can, or a shh, shh sound.

Livestock handlers have learned a lot from Grandin, says Clint Peck, Director, Director, Beef Quality Assurance at Montana State University, Bozeman.

 “There’s not a rancher in this country that isn’t aware of her work. We have all been influenced by Temple. There is no question her work has helped us all understand more about our animals and how to handle them in a caring and humane manner.”

Because of her work and her perseverance, the beef industry looks very different today than it did 30 years ago, says Peck.

Buffalo handlers are especially following the Grandin techniques today, because they understand that her methods work far better than the tough old cowboy ways of forcing the buffalo.

Mark Kossler, manager of the Vermejo Park Ranch, New Mexico, writing in the most recent, 2015 edition of the Bison Producers’ Handbook, published by the National Bison Association, warns that “Handling problems may have more to do with how people approach and try to control them than with the livestock themselves.

“Could it be that we are the root problem with poor handling and performing livestock?”

“Low-stress livestock handling should create an environment, in facilities and handling methods that keep animals mentally calm, content and unafraid,” he suggests.

Its essence is handling buffalo in such a way that suits them and keeps them “mentally intact.”

Low-stress methods keep them from becoming “mentally fractured”—which results in wild, erratic and often aggressive behavior.

This involves, he writes, developing an environment on the ranch that “responds to what the animals show us they need.”

Buffalo are continually communicating with us by what they do or don’t do, but are we listening? he asks.

“Do we manage and handle our animals in such a way that we minimize the stress they experience or do we manage and handle our animals in way that increase their stress?”

Stress occurs, he says, when we place demands on buffalo that they can’t calmly meet or respond to naturally. “This has undesirable consequences that include poor animal performance, aggressive behavior, death loss, injuries, increased disease and health problems, increased handler stress and economic loss.”

Buffalo people know it’s important to keep a watchful eye on the buffalo, and respond to their actions in helpful ways.

Dave Carter, long-time director of the National Bison Association, who runs his own buffalo herd, puts it this way, “Through the years, these magnificent animals have taught us a lot.

“Every day spent with bison will provide great insight and understanding.”

The goal is to develop a calm herd, with the buffalo content and unafraid, trusting their owners and understanding their signals and movements.

This is accomplished by establishing yourself at the top of the pecking order in a calm and confident way, being relaxed and consistent—never pushing too hard.

Patricia F. Lee, Lee Buffalo Farms, BSU of Ill, Attica, Indiana, says generally buffalo are quite docile but can change in an instant. They may appear to be sluggish, but are really extremely active.

They can outrun and outmaneuver a horse. They can jump a standard woven wire fence with 2 barbed wires on top from a complete stand still. And they can charge through most any fence and tear it down, if they really want to.

Buffalo today are in a semi-domesticated process, but still cannot be fully trusted, says Lee.

They retain all their natural instincts for survival—and when crowded panic into a “fight or flight” response.

Livestock handlers have learned a lot from Grandin, says Clint Peck, Director, Beef Quality Assurance at Montana State University, Bozeman in 2011.

“There’s not a rancher in this country that isn’t aware of her work. We have all been influenced by Temple. There is no question her work has helped us all understand more about our animals and how to handle them in a caring and humane manner.”

Because of her work and her perseverance, the beef industry looks very different today than it did 30 years ago, he says.

Most especially, buffalo breeders are following the Dr. Grandin handling techniques today—they find her methods work far better than the tough old cowboy methods.

Dr. Grandin has spent her career looking at the beef industry through the eyes of a cow. She has laid down in muddy corrals, crawled through metal chutes, and even stood in the stun boxes where factory workers deliver their fatal blows.

“There is no question her work has helped us all understand more about our animals and how to handle them in a caring and humane manner,” writes Peck.

Her methods have become even more important in the Bison industry, in which she notes that the problems in handling these “large, skittish animals . . .range from stampeding to intra-herd aggression to ‘suicide.’”

Her studies, she writes, have “focused on bison behavior during handling in squeeze chutes, alleys, holding pens and trucks”

Kossler lists 8 foundational principles to work on to develop one’s buffalo ranch into a low-stress operation.

1. Realize that it is our fault, not theirs, if our livestock live in a high stress environment. We need to change how we operate to affect a better outcome for them. Our attitudes towards our animals and philosophies of animal management will have to change, as they are just operating the best they can in the environment we provide for them. 

2. Consistently use signals that livestock can respond to naturally so they can understand our meaning or what we want them to do.  Get consistent in how we move our bison in the pasture, from pasture to pasture or in the corral.  Realize that if they become unsettled or emotionally fractured, it is caused by something we did.  Analyze the feedback we are getting from our stock–this is how they are communicating with us.  If we are not getting the desired feedback, then we are the problem and need to change what we are doing.  

3. Apply only the amount of pressure needed to get the desired response, not an ounce more! 

4. Stop “forcing” our bison to do what we want.  Replace force with consistent sound handling principles that allow them to learn what we want and gives them opportunity to do it willingly. 

5. Stop doing things that cause immediate “high stress” in our bison such as yelling; moving fast and erratically; not giving them time to think, analyze and respond. Or putting continued unrelenting pressure on them with no release. 

6. Stop having a definite schedule when working with our bison. We need to realize that our “schedule” puts pressure on us that is often transferred to our bison, which causes its own problems. In working with animals, not every day is the same and how we approach it often affects the outcome. If we are on edge and in a hurry, the animals will pick up on this and react accordingly. 

7. Start thinking from the bison’s point of view—getting on the “other side of the horns.” Spend time thinking about what we do with our bison and how it may look or feel from their perspective. If we can get inside them and see what we do through their eyes, it well may change how we do things.  

8. If one approach does not work, even if it did yesterday, try another. Conditions are constantly changing and we need to account for that with our method and approach.  Be flexible in what we do and how we do it.

He suggests that learning the techniques will take some reading, research, and lessons from those who know how to do it.

 

Dr. Grandin makes the point that an increasing awareness of animal welfare and rights issues means that routine procedures that were considered adequate in the past are no longer acceptable in today’s society.

Thus, it is especially important that zoos, parks and other conservation systems have healthy, vibrant bison herds for public education and enjoyment and that they are treated well.

She writes, “A favorable public perception of captive animals is critical to park funding and reputation.

“Calm, beautiful, picture perfect animals are powerful advertisements for parks.”

Therefore, she urges that calm, knowledgeable, low stress handling techniques are essential.

Low Stress handling also implies an appropriate set-up of corrals and chutes.

Following Dr. Grandin’s advice and research, owners round corral corners and build solid walls so buffalo don’t spook at distractions or attempt an escape back to the hills.

Resources for Low-stress Buffalo Handling

Bud Williams Schools. www.stockmanship.com ; Excellent videos on Low-Stress Handling. No longer provide workshops.

Cote, Steve. Stockmanship: A Powerful Tool for Grazing Lands Management. Natural Resources Conservation Service; Arco, Idaho. USDA. 2004.

Grandin, Temple. The Calming of American Bison (Bison bison) During Routine Handling.  www.grandin.com, written with Jennifer L. Lanier, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Ft Collins, CO.

InterTribal Buffalo Council, Resources; for more information, 605-394-9730. Website. itbcbuffalo.com

Kossler, Mark. Low Stress Bison Handling. Bison Producers’ Handbook, National Bison Association. 2010.

National Bison Association. Contact NBA for references and recommendations for members who are using Low Stress Livestock methods on their ranches. bisoncentral.com

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

Interview with Marko Manoukian, Phillips County Extension Agent, Malta, Montana.

In our BLOG of June 23, 2020, we published “American Serengeti—What is going on in Montana?,” which discusses the enormous wildlife project that is shaking the foundations of community development and progress in Phillips County, Montana, and Malta, its county seat, and nearby communities.

The American Prairie Reserve—APR, or simply the Prairie Reserve–on the upper Missouri River is a plan to develop a huge grazing unit—the largest nature reserve in the continental United States.

On this land APR aims to turn back the clock and restore the wildlife that roamed here two centuries ago, along with its large predators—grizzly bears, packs of wolves, mountain lions—and great herds of wild buffalo.

The idea grew from casual roots when this Montana area was “discovered” in 2000 by a group of environmentalists who proclaimed it critical for preserving grassland biodiversity.

One year later, in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, a member of that group, a biologist named Curt Freese, teamed up with a Montana native named Sean Gerrity and together they formed the American Prairie Reserve (APR).

Gerrity, a Silicon Valley consultant, says the idea was to “move fast and be nimble,” in the manner of high-tech start-ups.

They would remove the thousands of cattle grazing public land, stock it with 10,000 buffalo, tear out divider fences, restore native vegetation, and add missing wildlife in a pristine natural setting. This would be much appreciated by their wealthy donors from all over the world who could visit occasionally, staying in opulent yurts.

In the 19 years since, the Prairie Reserve group has moved ahead, raising $160 million in private donations, nearly all of it from out-of-state high-tech and business entrepreneurs across the U.S. and Europe.

They have acquired 30 properties—cattle ranches—totaling 104,000 acres. To this they added about three times that—more than 300,000 acres—in grazing leases on adjacent federal and state land—as owners are allowed when they purchase land with grazing rights.

Plans are to purchase about 20 more ranches.

The properties purchased are all strategically located near two federally protected areas: the 1.1 million-acre Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and the 377,000-acre Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, according to National Geographic (Feb.2020, p69-89), which partners with Prairie Reserve in the Last Wild Places initiative. Other Federal and State lands intersect as well. Most of these lands are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a division of the Department of Interior (DOT).

Other environmentalists, such as The Nature Conservancy, have long purchased lands for conservation, but none have done it in the large-scale APR proposes, according to National Geographic. Few have had the ambition as the Prairie Reserve does, of retaining long-term ownership and management authority of that land as well as adjoining publicly-owned lands.

Needless to say, cattle ranchers and many local townspeople—who have been watching the inevitable disintegration of formerly close communities, as one rancher after another sells out to APR, and families and businesses leave—are not pleased with what is happening.

We invited Marko Manoukian, Phillips County Extension Agent, of Malta, Montana, representing the Philllips County Livestock Association, to give us the cattle ranchers side of this Montana controversy.

Below is our interview with Marko Manoukian.

Francie Berg: What is the American Prairie Reserve (APR) doing that upsets the local ranchers so much?

Marko Manoukian: Principally, they are crowding out the ability of ranchers to compete economically for agricultural land—in this case grazing land.

Because APR pays a premium for the property—more than a neighboring rancher could pay off with cows—this doesn’t allow for young people to come back and be engaged in livestock production.

Francie: Do you disagree with APR’s statement that they pay the regular, going price for land?

Marko: Correct, principally because, they are a 501C3 charitable organization so they get tax-free dollars to compete.

The tax code under charity is reserved for those things related to health or education. APR getting that designation is far outside the scope of the tax code.

But they got it somehow.

Francie: So they have already got from the BLM what they want?

Marko: Well, competition for the land is one issue.

Another issue is that they’ve made application to BLM for year-around grazing and to alter the fence perimeter.

Neighboring ranchers or permitees are required to make application through the BLM and have been denied those things.

Francie: Denied what?

Marko: Year-around grazing and fence altercation. There’s supposed to be an environment assessment made by the BLM to be approved before any fences are changed.

None of that has happened—and I suppose in Phillips County alone they’ve probably altered 100 miles of BLM perimeter fence already.

Some neighboring operators are angry because now the fences are electric and that’s a hazard for them and their cattle.

Francie: Why is that a hazard?

Marko: Well as a neighboring rancher, yes it is. Because you’re not in charge of energizing the fence. They are.

So if your cow somehow got across the fence you might not know how to turn the fence off to get to the other side.

This would be the same for recreation, crawling around hunting—hunters may not know how to turn the fence off or even know that it is electric before they get zapped.

Francie:  You’re saying electric fences are a problem for recreation?

Marko: Yes. Electric fences are a limitation to recreation.

Francie: The BLM land is supposed to be open for recreation, isn’t it?

Marko: Correct. That’s not multiple use. We’ve argued that electric fence is not multiple use.

Francie: So you think the BLM is treating the cattle ranchers unfairly.

Marko: Yes, they are.

Francie:  And what course do the ranchers have?

Marko: Two actions that ranchers have taken.

BLM has said we’re going to change the allotment from cattle to bison. And the ranchers have objected to that. One is to object to change grazing from cattle to bison.

Francie: Can they just change it without consulting anyone?

Marko: True. Well they haven’t changed it yet. But early on the neighboring permitees could see that there is favoritism going on. So they’ve challenged everything that BLM has done.

Francie: You’ve done this in a legal way?

Marko: Yep. We’ve hired an attorney to review and represent us in that process.

I think there are 5 allotments now. Originally it was 18 allotments that they wanted to change to year-around grazing and bison grazing only. But now they have requested permits for just 5 allotments.

Francie: The ranchers are challenging this?

Marko: Yep.

Francie: What will happen next?

Marko: Eventually BLM will provide a document suggesting the best management alternatives they see under that request. So we’re just waiting for that environmental assessment document to come forward. Or they can deny the request all together.

Francie: So they can deny APR s request—or your request?

Marko: Yes, either of them.

So then the other action the livestock operators have taken. The citizens of the county have passed an ordinance that bison must be handled like livestock.

The citizens have said all bison have to be managed like cattle. This means owners have to do disease testing and some identification of their animals.

But APR has asked for a variance from that ordinance So we’re working through that process.

Francie: I also noticed—BLM is saying that the bison are fine with just 1 single fence around the outside. In our area BLM is telling the ranchers they have to build inner dividing fences and rotate their cattle quite frequently.

Marko: Yes, all BLM pemitees are required to rotate their animals on BLM Land.

It’s the biggest change that BLM has taken on over the course of its existence. And now they want to go back to one giant pasture and keep the same animals in there all year around.

Francie: I read that the APR goal is to get 10,000 bison in their one large, single pasture. Do you think 10,000 would be fully stocked for that amount of land?

Marko: Yes, that’s more than a full load.

Francie: So won’t they graze it down even faster if they do it without rotation?

Marko: Yes, that’s our claim.

Francie: Montana is a big producer of cattle, right? So if this happens to that big chunk of grazing land, it will cut Montana’s beef production. Any speculation on this?

Marko: Oh, Yes. APR is planning on taking productive land and turning it into no production. That hurts our economy. Both regional and local economy are impacted. Also they are impacted because the APR operations aren’t buying fuel, fertilizer, net wrap and tires.

Francie: And it seems kind of deceptive that these people are outsiders from Silicon Valley, but making a case that they are Montanans, even placing their so-called national headquarters in Bozeman.

Marko: That’s their story, yes. Well some of them are, I guess.

Francie: What about the luxury yurts they are advertising for their donors? Are they available for use by everyone?

Marko: Well, it does appear that the preserve is used mostly by the upper class. Some of their packages are priced at $2,500 occupancy per person—that doesn’t include their traveling to get here.

Francie: What about local people? Do they have a lower price for ordinary people to stay overnight?

Marko: I don’t know if they advertise a local or lower price.

Francie: They say they don’t charge people to come onto their lands. Is it free to come into their refuges?

Marko: They don’t have any legal authority to regulate how people enter the BLM land, which is the majority of their holdings. I’m suspicious that on their deeded land—some people may be charged and some not.

Francie: Right now do they only run bison on their purchased land, not BLM lands?

Marko: I believe they do have 1 BLM permit licensed for bison, but no other bison as yet on BLM land.

Francie: Sounds as if they are trying to totally change the livestock from cattle to bison. I also heard a complaint that this will give APR long-term power about how the bison pastures are handled.

Marko: I don’t know that they’re going to have a lot of repeat customers to come out to the prairie. We haven’t had rain on the prairie for most of the summer. So the grasshoppers are horrible.

I know there are going to be ranchers who have to adjust the livestock they have on BLM land.

Francie: So how are they going to adjust the bison numbers in a dry year if they already have too many head? If there are too many grasshoppers and too little moisture—have they planned for that?

Marko: No they don’t plan for those kinds of environmental impacts.

Like in 2010 and 2011 we had 100 inches of snow. APR didn’t have any hay. The buffalo broke out. Left their property, traveled a long ways, and had to be brought back by helicopter.

Francie: Why did they break out?

Marko: The buffalo broke out because they were hungry! 

Hopefully long-term BLM will stick to the rules.

Francie: Do you have a good case?

Marko: I think we do. And hopefully the rules of management of our public land will hold. Congress hasn’t overturned the Taylor Grazing Act. So if they stick to the rules, they’ll have to make application and not be allowed to run free-range.

Francie: So they won’t be able to just run freely under 1 big fence. You’re saying that most of the cattle ranchers agree on this?

Marko: Yes—they would be against changing the rules.

Francie: Doesn’t APR plan to link all this land with just 1 perimeter fence around it?

Marko: That’s their theory. But they’re pretty well spread across our county and across the river and they’re not necessarily connected.

DOI Presents 10-year Plan for Bison

Francie: It’s interesting, the “Save the Cowboy” signs we see around your county and other counties close by. I think their point is quite clear—a lot of local people don’t like what they are seeing.

However, I see that the Department of the Interior (DOI) of which BLM and the government grazing lands are a part, has a new 10-year plan concerning Bison.

That powerful department—DOI which governs one eighth of the land mass of the United States—recently announced their commitment to establish and maintain large, wide-ranging bison herds on “appropriate large landscapes.” 

Their 10-year plan, called the Bison Conservation Initiative, is a new cooperative program that will coordinate conservation strategies and approaches for the wild American Bison over the next 10 years. They mention working with tribal herds in North and South Dakota.

What do you think of that, Marko?

Marko: In Interior’s press release I don’t see any mention of tribes in Montana, so hard to say what impact this will have in other states.

With the smallest cow herds in the US at least since 1950 one would wonder why the US government would help tribes remove more cattle. But if the tribes want to do that just on tribal lands that would be ok, of course.

Francie: Right, both the projects mentioned in the press release are quite limited, and have to do with increasing tribal buffalo herds and genetics of the Theodore Roosevelt Park herd.

On the other hand—when we look at DOI’s 10-year goals organized around five central themes,

it sounds as if they might have wider plans than that.

Here are DOI’s announced 10-year goals:

1.Wild, Healthy Bison Herds: A commitment to conserve bison as healthy wildlife

2.Genetic Conservation: A commitment to an interagency, science-based approach to support genetic diversity across DOI bison conservation herds

3.Shared Stewardship: A commitment to shared stewardship of wild bison in cooperation with states, tribes and other stakeholders

4.Ecological Restoration: A commitment to establish and maintain large, wide-ranging bison herds on appropriate large landscapes where their role as ecosystem engineers shape healthy and diverse ecological communities

5.Cultural Restoration: A commitment to restore cultural connections to honor and promote the unique status of bison as an American icon for all people (Department of Interior Press Release 5/7/2020)

“Ecological Restoration and establishing and maintaining large, wide-ranging bison herds” sounds eerily like what the Prairie Reserve is trying to do.

Yet if that commitment is to be tempered by the “Shared Stewardship,” pledge to cooperate with “states, tribes and other stakeholders,” surely DOI will not participate in deliberate breaking up of close communities against the desires of local residents.

When there is a strong cultural backlash from 100-year residents—as there is from Malta and the Phillips County cattle ranchers—certainly that needs to be considered.

DOI and BLM when acting locally will surely recognize heavy-handedness when they participate in it.

If they think they can override local protests, the “Save the Cowboy” signs make the issues clear. Montana ranchers are making them plain with both lawyers and hand-made signs.

It seems that DOI and BLM need to back off and recognize that the arrogance of these environmental outsiders does not sit well with Montanans.

Their heavy-handedness can in no way be called “Shared Stewardship” with “states and other stakeholders” even when they can “move fast and be nimble,” in the words of Sean Gerrity.

Indeed, maybe 10,000 sometimes-hungry buffalo under one single electric-fenced pasture is not such a lofty goal, after all.

Right DOI? And if you’ve been thinking so, please tell us why.

What gives them—and you—the right to destroy living communities?

Maybe it only proves the arrogance and pig-headedness of those who have “discovered” this little gem of 100 years of shared conservation efforts at such a late date?

For more on how DOI is working “to improve the conservation and management of bison,” contact Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov)

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog