Bison, grasslands will nourish each other
By Michele Linckmlinck@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A bison leaps out of a trailer at The Nature Conservancy's Broken Kettle Grasslands south of Westfield, Iowa, Monday Oct. 20, 2008. 28 bison from South Dakota's Black Hills were introduced into the preserve to help with grassland management. Nature Conservancy officials hope to slowly increase the herd to 200-300 bison. (Sioux City Journal photo by Tim Hynds)
WESTFIELD, Iowa -- Wild bison returned to the Northwest Iowa prairie Monday for the first time in more than 100 years, getting their first taste of the state at The Nature Conservancy's 8,000-acre Broken Kettle Grasslands, in the Loess Hills just south of Westfield.
Not only will the lush prairie grasses of the grassland support the herd, but the bison will also help maintain the health of the prairie, according to Jen Filipiak, the conservancy's director of conservation for Iowa.
A 53-foot-long trailer carrying 28 bison from the Black Hills was backed up to a corral at the foot of the Loess Hills at Broken Kettle, just south of Westfield. A gentle breeze carried the smell of manure, and the stomping of hooves could be heard from within.
A moment later, five huge male bison ran tentatively out of the trailer into a tall steel-enclosed corral. The largest led the others to a back corner. They were soon joined by 16 cows and then by seven calves as a handler opened gates within the trailer. The leader walked a half-circle around the herd as if making sure everyone was present, then trotted to the corner farthest from the trailer, his herd behind him.
"They've had a long, long ride," said Eric Ribley, Broken Kettle preserve assistant. Indeed they had.
The herd comes from The Nature Conservancy's Lame Johnny Creek Ranch in South Dakota's Black Hills, 460 miles from Westfield. It took eight hours to carry them to their new home.
For Scott Moats, Broken Kettle's director of stewardship, who lives on the land with his family, it has been a 10-year journey.
"I'm ecstatic!" he exclaimed, enjoying the moment. "We've been planning for 10 years for this facility and to have the infrastructure in place. We've planted some prairie and burned it quite a few times," he said, referring to the restorative effect of fire.
Now that the prairie is rich enough to support the bison, the bison will help keep it healthy, according to Filipiak. Their random grazing will encourage plant diversity by keeping aggressive plant species from taking over others.
No cattle, just bison
The herd originated from the herd at Wind Cave National Park, which abuts Johnny Creek. It is one of only two herds in the country believed to historically and genetically pure bison, without any cattle interbreeding, according to genetic testing done by researchers at Texas A&M University.
"We made the decision to take the purest herd we can to start off," conservancy spokeswoman Elizabeth Niven said. "Wind Cave is happy about it. It means their genes are going to be (preserved) elsewhere."
At the same time, she said, those selected have good genetic diversity.
However, Filipiak noted that only 1 percent of the bison genome has been deciphered to date. It is known that bison with cattle genes tend to have fertility problems. Texas A&M will continue to test the animals for evidence of cattle "intergression" as the herd develops and further genetic testing is available, Niven said.
Bison are herd-oriented and tend to stay together. So the specialists at The Nature Conservancy chose a maternal group -- bison that know each other and have already established their social system -- to transplant to Iowa.
The herd is a relatively young group, with none being older than 10 years. Wild bison mate from July into September, producing a single calf after nine months' gestation. The calves suckle for a year and stay with their mothers until they reach sexual maturity: three years for females, six years for males.
Their long journey to Broken Kettle was planned right down to the smallest details by conservancy staff members in South Dakota and Iowa, along with oversight by state veterinarians to make it as stress-free as possible. For example, the animals traveled together on one truck to reduce the anxiety that splitting the group would have caused.
They will be held for a week in the corral to get them settled and used to their surroundings, then released into a 125-acre "trap pasture" where they'll winter over. They'll be fed prairie hay during that period. But come spring, they'll head out into a fenced, 500-acre pasture.
Moats said work has already begun on a high-tensile electric fence that will surround 3,000 acres. What is hoped to be a growing herd will have free run of that prairie when the fence is completed, in two to three years, he said. Moats said he thinks the land could sustain a herd of about 250 bison.
Filipiak said while it's good to preserve a top-notch bison herd, the project is more about continuing to improve and preserve the native prairie. The animals' random grazing will keep more aggressive, undesirable plant species in check and allow a wider diversity of prairie grasses and other plants to thrive.
Although the release was a private affair -- more reporters will get to see the herd at a Breakfast with the Bison event this morning -- Moats' wife, Jody, and daughter, McKenna, and a few of the preserve's neighbors stood on a corral walkway to watch the release.
Rob Stowe was there with his sons Bryce, 5, and Chase, 8. The family has been following the years of preparation, and Bryce was especially excited to see the bison finally arrive.
"The Nature Conservancy are awesome neighbors," Rob Stowe said. "They help us manage our land, too."
And he didn't come empty-handed to the bison release. In a private moment afterward, he gave Moats a gift to mark the occasion, a bison rib boned carved in the shape of an eagle feather.
Is it 'bison' or 'buffalo'?
It's bison.
Although the massive animals that once dominated the Great Plains are often called buffalo, that's a misnomer.
North American bison are only distantly related to the water buffalo, found mainly in Southeast Asia and India, and to the African cape buffalo.
In Iowa, a bison herd was reintroduced to the native prairie at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City in 1996.
The Iowa Bison Association's Web site says the organization is committed to preserving bison and promoting bison meat and products.
Not only will the lush prairie grasses of the grassland support the herd, but the bison will also help maintain the health of the prairie, according to Jen Filipiak, the conservancy's director of conservation for Iowa.
A 53-foot-long trailer carrying 28 bison from the Black Hills was backed up to a corral at the foot of the Loess Hills at Broken Kettle, just south of Westfield. A gentle breeze carried the smell of manure, and the stomping of hooves could be heard from within.
A moment later, five huge male bison ran tentatively out of the trailer into a tall steel-enclosed corral. The largest led the others to a back corner. They were soon joined by 16 cows and then by seven calves as a handler opened gates within the trailer. The leader walked a half-circle around the herd as if making sure everyone was present, then trotted to the corner farthest from the trailer, his herd behind him.
"They've had a long, long ride," said Eric Ribley, Broken Kettle preserve assistant. Indeed they had.
The herd comes from The Nature Conservancy's Lame Johnny Creek Ranch in South Dakota's Black Hills, 460 miles from Westfield. It took eight hours to carry them to their new home.
For Scott Moats, Broken Kettle's director of stewardship, who lives on the land with his family, it has been a 10-year journey.
"I'm ecstatic!" he exclaimed, enjoying the moment. "We've been planning for 10 years for this facility and to have the infrastructure in place. We've planted some prairie and burned it quite a few times," he said, referring to the restorative effect of fire.
Now that the prairie is rich enough to support the bison, the bison will help keep it healthy, according to Filipiak. Their random grazing will encourage plant diversity by keeping aggressive plant species from taking over others.
No cattle, just bison
The herd originated from the herd at Wind Cave National Park, which abuts Johnny Creek. It is one of only two herds in the country believed to historically and genetically pure bison, without any cattle interbreeding, according to genetic testing done by researchers at Texas A&M University.
"We made the decision to take the purest herd we can to start off," conservancy spokeswoman Elizabeth Niven said. "Wind Cave is happy about it. It means their genes are going to be (preserved) elsewhere."
At the same time, she said, those selected have good genetic diversity.
However, Filipiak noted that only 1 percent of the bison genome has been deciphered to date. It is known that bison with cattle genes tend to have fertility problems. Texas A&M will continue to test the animals for evidence of cattle "intergression" as the herd develops and further genetic testing is available, Niven said.
Bison are herd-oriented and tend to stay together. So the specialists at The Nature Conservancy chose a maternal group -- bison that know each other and have already established their social system -- to transplant to Iowa.
The herd is a relatively young group, with none being older than 10 years. Wild bison mate from July into September, producing a single calf after nine months' gestation. The calves suckle for a year and stay with their mothers until they reach sexual maturity: three years for females, six years for males.
Their long journey to Broken Kettle was planned right down to the smallest details by conservancy staff members in South Dakota and Iowa, along with oversight by state veterinarians to make it as stress-free as possible. For example, the animals traveled together on one truck to reduce the anxiety that splitting the group would have caused.
They will be held for a week in the corral to get them settled and used to their surroundings, then released into a 125-acre "trap pasture" where they'll winter over. They'll be fed prairie hay during that period. But come spring, they'll head out into a fenced, 500-acre pasture.
Moats said work has already begun on a high-tensile electric fence that will surround 3,000 acres. What is hoped to be a growing herd will have free run of that prairie when the fence is completed, in two to three years, he said. Moats said he thinks the land could sustain a herd of about 250 bison.
Filipiak said while it's good to preserve a top-notch bison herd, the project is more about continuing to improve and preserve the native prairie. The animals' random grazing will keep more aggressive, undesirable plant species in check and allow a wider diversity of prairie grasses and other plants to thrive.
Although the release was a private affair -- more reporters will get to see the herd at a Breakfast with the Bison event this morning -- Moats' wife, Jody, and daughter, McKenna, and a few of the preserve's neighbors stood on a corral walkway to watch the release.
Rob Stowe was there with his sons Bryce, 5, and Chase, 8. The family has been following the years of preparation, and Bryce was especially excited to see the bison finally arrive.
"The Nature Conservancy are awesome neighbors," Rob Stowe said. "They help us manage our land, too."
And he didn't come empty-handed to the bison release. In a private moment afterward, he gave Moats a gift to mark the occasion, a bison rib boned carved in the shape of an eagle feather.
Is it 'bison' or 'buffalo'?
It's bison.
Although the massive animals that once dominated the Great Plains are often called buffalo, that's a misnomer.
North American bison are only distantly related to the water buffalo, found mainly in Southeast Asia and India, and to the African cape buffalo.
In Iowa, a bison herd was reintroduced to the native prairie at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City in 1996.
The Iowa Bison Association's Web site says the organization is committed to preserving bison and promoting bison meat and products.
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T. Phillips wrote on Oct 22, 2008 9:30 PM:
JM wrote on Oct 21, 2008 10:34 PM:
mike sands wrote on Oct 21, 2008 7:21 PM:
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