More than 300 bison have been culled from the Yellowstone National Park population so far this year, according to a report from park officials.
As of March 22, 305 bison had been removed between hunting and capture-for-slaughter operations, a total that may climb this week as hunts continue.
So far, hunters licensed through seven tribal nations have taken 96 bison, according to the park’s report.
The park’s Stephens Creek Capture Facility has trapped and consigned 208 bison to slaughter. One bison died in the facility.
That total is still short of bison managers’ goal of removing between 600 and 900 bison this winter. Managers try to control the population’s number with hunting and slaughter each year when the animals migrate out of the park.
Last summer, biologists estimated there were about 4,500 bison in the population. The removal goal is meant to keep that number stable or slightly decrease it.
This winter has been slow. Bison largely stayed inside the park’s interior — where they can’t be hunted or trapped — for the first few months of winter.
Migration northward began en masse in late February. Over the first few weeks of March, there were consistently more than 200 bison north of Mammoth Hot Springs, according to the report.
Park officials are still holding roughly 80 bison for a quarantine program.
