Hope, Science and Bison
Guest post by Clemson Montana Summer Program student Neelia Heath
As mentioned before, I was very inexperienced before coming to Montana. So, you may not be surprised when I say I’ve never seen a bison before...or a mountain goat…or even a prairie dog. It was one of the many aspects of this trip I was looking forward to. I fell in love with South Dakota! Even though the two states are not that far away, I could tell that it was different than Montana not too far past the state line. The national parks and wildlife within were mind blowing! The Black Hills themselves were vast and illuminated a dark beauty that you didn’t want to mess with. The animals were one of a kind and thankfully used to a human presence. The bison, prairie dogs, and mountains goat roamed freely as if we didn’t exist, and on their land, we surrendered to their beauty every time we stopped the car to take a picture or let them walk across the street. I loved exploring and feeling as if this trip unveiled a vast amount of knowledge. Straight into Custer Park we saw so many bison. To me, they already looked more appealing and majestic than cattle. However, I was unsure of why this was.
My questions were answered the second day when we visited Dan O’Brien’s ranch. He talked about the conservation goals and values he lived by and why he decided to raise buffalo instead of cattle. He stated that his goals consisted of conservation, of course, and species diversity. Being a conservation major, I truly connected and empathized with his ideas. He explained how he raised his bison and that he tried to keep them as stress free as possible. He prefers to humanely kill them on his ranch with a professional sharp shooter and finish them off with grass, their preferred forage of choice. Dan O’Brien admitted that he, in fact, has had some experience with cattle. When it comes to cattle versus bison, he stated three differences: evolution, sustainability, and more people. At the time, I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. To me, his answers were so vague. So, when I went back to the ranch in Roundup, I decided to find out what he meant, and this is what I found.
According to an article, “Bison Versus Cattle: Are They Ecologically Synonymous?”, authors Kohl, Krausman, Kunkel, and Williams, reported that there are 100,000,000 cattle compared to the 500,000 bison. It’s obvious to say that that is a huge difference! More people would rather raise cattle because of the short-term benefits. The authors go on to state, “Bison and cattle differed in all behaviors (grazing, standing, bedded, moving, other).” So even though, bison and cattle may seem like pretty similar livestock to the standard tourist, they are not! The environmental impact of cattle in the long run will be extremely detrimental. Cattle have evolved to become a more domesticated form of livestock by far! One of the traits that makes bison so much more majestic is that they are still in tune with their natural and wild side. They roam in herds together and wherever they please and tend to be very social animals. Veterinarians are rarely needed when raising bison because they are so independent. Cattle need much more attention and handling in this case. Dan O’Brien himself has revealed that he only had a veterinarian come out to his ranch once! As far as sustainability goes, cattle spend up to 50% of their time grazing while bison only spend a maximum of approximately 28% of their time grazing. Moreover, bison move at a much faster rate, as well, by 50-99% faster than cattle. Lastly, cattle spend more time near water sources and contaminate them, and when it comes to grazing cattle are pickier eaters. Bison tend to cause less erosion and are natural fertilizers to the land. Even though it may be more expensive to transition to bison, I believe it is worth it in the end.
Fortunately, we have people like Dan O’Brien who understand the importance of bison and why they need to be reintroduced as a more favorable ranching option. I asked what techniques he was using to inform the public since he quit working with non-profit organizations because they were not self-sustainable. He tries to inform as much as possible. From first-hand experience, he is willing to have people tour his ranch and somehow shares property with big influencers like Yvon Chouinard. So, it is proven, that his practices are spreading fast. Being a literary enthusiast, he has published a few books and sells them in his store and even has a website with recipes, blogs, and an explanation of his focus. He also allows eager students to contact and apply to internships in which I’d personally be very interested in taking part. He went on to state that his ranch will be more productive when he is gone than when it started. He is always looking to expand and improve, in which foreshadows hope for the future.
My questions were answered the second day when we visited Dan O’Brien’s ranch. He talked about the conservation goals and values he lived by and why he decided to raise buffalo instead of cattle. He stated that his goals consisted of conservation, of course, and species diversity. Being a conservation major, I truly connected and empathized with his ideas. He explained how he raised his bison and that he tried to keep them as stress free as possible. He prefers to humanely kill them on his ranch with a professional sharp shooter and finish them off with grass, their preferred forage of choice. Dan O’Brien admitted that he, in fact, has had some experience with cattle. When it comes to cattle versus bison, he stated three differences: evolution, sustainability, and more people. At the time, I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. To me, his answers were so vague. So, when I went back to the ranch in Roundup, I decided to find out what he meant, and this is what I found.
According to an article, “Bison Versus Cattle: Are They Ecologically Synonymous?”, authors Kohl, Krausman, Kunkel, and Williams, reported that there are 100,000,000 cattle compared to the 500,000 bison. It’s obvious to say that that is a huge difference! More people would rather raise cattle because of the short-term benefits. The authors go on to state, “Bison and cattle differed in all behaviors (grazing, standing, bedded, moving, other).” So even though, bison and cattle may seem like pretty similar livestock to the standard tourist, they are not! The environmental impact of cattle in the long run will be extremely detrimental. Cattle have evolved to become a more domesticated form of livestock by far! One of the traits that makes bison so much more majestic is that they are still in tune with their natural and wild side. They roam in herds together and wherever they please and tend to be very social animals. Veterinarians are rarely needed when raising bison because they are so independent. Cattle need much more attention and handling in this case. Dan O’Brien himself has revealed that he only had a veterinarian come out to his ranch once! As far as sustainability goes, cattle spend up to 50% of their time grazing while bison only spend a maximum of approximately 28% of their time grazing. Moreover, bison move at a much faster rate, as well, by 50-99% faster than cattle. Lastly, cattle spend more time near water sources and contaminate them, and when it comes to grazing cattle are pickier eaters. Bison tend to cause less erosion and are natural fertilizers to the land. Even though it may be more expensive to transition to bison, I believe it is worth it in the end.
