Yellowstone wants brucellosis quarantine facility in park

Yellowstone National Park is taking steps toward turning part of its bison trap at the northern edge of the park into a certified brucellosis quarantine facility.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports park officials have been talking since at least April with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state livestock officials about upgrades they could make to the Stephens Creek Facility, as well as testing requirements needed to certify bison as brucellosis-free there.

The move is meant to eventually get the 24 male bison at the trap to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation without first transferring them to quarantine corrals at Corwin Springs. Male bison must be quarantined for a year before they can be deemed free of the disease.

Brucellosis is feared by the livestock industry because it causes cattle to abort their offspring.