Grand Canyon National Park has announced that 100 buffalo from the North Rim have been captured and relocated to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, with the help of an inter-tribal group.
Last summer marked the first time that no buffalo were captured since the roundups began in 2018. Too much moisture in the air masked the scent of bait used to trap the largest land mammal in North America.
But now, more than 300 buffalo have been removed from the North Rim.
Most of these animals went to eight tribes through the InterTribal Buffalo Council, or ITBC, a consortium of more than 80 tribes across 20 states stewarding the species that almost went extinct.
In a Monday statement, Grand Canyon Superintendent Ed Keable called Friday’s successful live-capture and transfer “a testament to the collaborative efforts of all our partners” and “a significant step toward achieving our long-term goals for bison management and conservation.”
The U.S. Forest Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center and the NPS Office of Public Health also partner with the National Park Service.
Every September, ITBC has helped reduce Arizona’s herd as a management strategy on the Kaibab Plateau. The park estimates that the North Rim herd had been made up of roughly 380 animals this summer.
