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New Breeding Bull Added to Bison Herd at Southwest Minnesota Park
The park brought in a four-year-old breeding bull to help limit inbreeding and preserve one of the nation’s few cattle-genetic-free herds.
- Blue Mounds State Park near Luverne introduced a new 4-year-old bull to the herd in time for the July breeding season, replacing a bull that served for 10 years.
- Bison were hunted to near extinction over 125 years ago, creating a massive population bottleneck, and naturalist Tiffany Muellner said the herd is part of a genetic conservation effort.
- The Blue Mounds team maintains three subgoals for the herd, primarily limiting inbreeding and minimizing cattle genetics introduced through historical cross-breeding efforts.
- Herd members are notoriously picky and have previously rejected new arrivals during the breeding season, so the team currently waits to see if the cows accept the new bull.
- Partnering with the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council to return bison to tribal communities, biologists aim to increase the herd to 500 bison, the minimum needed for sufficient genetic variation.
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Duluth News Tribune+13 Reposted by 13 other sources
New breeding bull added to bison herd at southwest Minnesota park
Blue Mounds State Park, near Luverne, is home to one of the few cattle-genetic-free bison herds in the nation. The park's goal is genetic conservation of the animals.
·Cherokee County, United States
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