2023 Yellowstone Group B - Day 4

 Today, we woke up at 7. Luckily, the weather was nice. We packed lunch and ate breakfast quickly so we could get out and see the bison earlier. We arrived at Hayden Valley at 11:20 at a spot around 90 minutes away from camp.

We began by setting boundaries for the first group of bison that we wanted to record. Naturally, when working with wild animals, field work can be unpredictable. The group of bison moved and merged with another, causing us to reestablish the boundaries of our bison count. We found a total of 14 bison. In that group, four were red dogs (juveniles under 1 year old), one was a juvenile over one year old, four were adult females, and five were adult males. Though we had telemetry equipment in use, we did not find any collared bison. We were also unable to collect fecal samples, as the bison did not leave the area.

We departed for lunch after that. On the drive, we spotted one large male bison wallowing by himself. We observed him rolling around in a dirt pile. These dust baths are thought to provide some sun protection, but mostly help to remove unwanted insects from the bison fur.

Our lunch spot was the thermal basin The Mud Volcano. The area was formed when a geothermal vent heated water, dissolving mud. This mud gradually deposited and formed a "volcano" that exploded in the late 1800s due to a buildup of pressure. 

After eating, we explored the geothermal features in the area. Among the most impressive was The Dragon's Mouth, a rock formation that releases impressive plumes of steam. Not everyone appreciated the sulfurous smell of the gas,  but everyone enjoyed the dragon roar sounds coming from the rock formation.

Today was a day of spontaneity. The trip to The Mud Volcano was unplanned, and so was our detour to Yellowstone's Grand Canyon. To make the view extra impressive, we chose to shield our eyes from the view as we were led to the main overlook point. Looking closely, we were able to view footprints left by bighorn sheep on the mountainside. 

On the way back to camp, we stopped for the second part of our lesson on bison conservation history in Yellowstone. Picking up where we ended the day before, we explored the issues posed by the growing bison population of the second half of the 20th century. Specifically, the large range of the bison led them to encroach on ranches. This became a particular problem due to a rise in brucellosis infections. Brucellosis, a disease once common to cattle, causes stillbirths. As bison spread towards ranches, they intermingled with cows and some bison became infected. Brucellosis was later eradicated in cows, but because the bison were wild, they still carried the bacteria. 

The threat of brucellosis led the state of Montana to sue Yellowstone National Park. This forced Yellowstone to set a population limit of 3500 for the bison in the 1970s. This was thought to be low enough to prevent bison from spreading out of the park while leaving their population mostly intact. To manage the population, people paid for a permit to hunt bison in specific areas. To this day, a certain amount of permits are allocated to the Native American tribes whose livelihoods were once based in hunting bison. This method still left around 4000 bison, causing the park to implement slaughterhouses. These were intended to be an impartial way to cull the population. When possible, the meat was donated. In the 2000s, the population limit was raised to 5500. 

Many of us were shocked that Yellowstone, seen as a haven for wildlife and the site of a miraculous recovery in bison population, had to employ such methods. It highlights the complexities of restoration efforts and the tough solutions that arise. The history of bison population recovery is also riddled with institutional racism, as Montana often refuses to let Native American tribes to receive bison due to the possibility of brucellosis infection. 

We wrapped up the day with a long drive back to camp. There were several areas with standstill traffic, but we finally made it back around 6. For dinner, we had delicious spaghetti. After dinner, we participated in an insightful Quest of Knowledge. It was a fun word game created by Kaileen, Felipe, and David.