The Grand Canyon has reached an agreement with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to use skilled shooters to help reduce a bison herd.
The reduction is part of an ongoing effort to gain control over the bison, which can damage park vegetation and springs.
Details on the lethal culls are still being worked out, and the park is not looking for volunteers at this time.
The culls will employ skilled shooters and tribal personnel using nonlead ammunition.
The park may focus on removing yearlings and cows, but those details are also being worked out.
"This isn’t a hunt, you know, this isn’t going out with your buddies. This isn’t immediately recovering the entire animal,” said Kaitlyn Thomas, a spokeswoman with Grand Canyon National Park.
The bison were introduced to the area more than a century ago and cross-bred with cattle.
They were confined to House Rock Valley for decades, but in the ‘90s, they started to wander into the park.
A recent analysis showed that only a small amount of the cattle genes remain in the herd, but the park would like to reduce the damage to park resources.
In addition to lethal culls, it will live capture and remove bison and hopes to cut the size of the herd to about 200.
