Welcome to the Slaughter? Yellowstone Kills Hundreds of Bison to Reduce Herds in National Park

The meat of the slaughtered bison was distributed among members of various Native American Indian tribes, who are also engaged in hunting the creature, killing around 270 of them in Montana.

Yellowstone National Park caught at least 550 wild bison and killed 442 of them in order to implement population control in the nature reserve. This measure agreed on by the state and federal authorities is done to hinder the spread of animal diseases to cattle, such as brucellosis. The latter a poses serious danger to cows. According to official information, at least 822 of the park's 4,900 bison have been killed or removed.

This woolly bull-y was left white face after plowing his head deep into the thick snow to reach grasses buried underneath

© East News / Keith Crowley/Solent News & Photo Agency

The news comes after wildlife activists filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Washington DC last week, claiming that Yellowstone bison must be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, however, has previously rejected the calls to stop the population control of the animals.