Plans to slaughter bison halted
Late last week, federal officials halted plans to slaughter brucellosis-exposed bison in the Yellowstone area.
According to federal officials, the reason for the slaughter is to prevent the disease from being passed on to cattle. Brucellosis can cause wildlife and livestock to prematurely abort their young. About half of the bison in Yellowstone carry this disease, though no bison-to-cattle transmissions have been recorded.
The slaughter was going to begin this week, but is being delayed while the legal challenge is reviewed.
According to the LA Times Blog, those involved with the challenge said that the chance of bison infecting livestock is too low to justify the death of so many bison.
We want to know what you think about this issue. Should the bison be slaughtered to protect livestock, or is the slaughter unjustified?