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Part IV: Reducing the Risk of Transmission from Wildlife to Cattle
Pages 107-123

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From page 107...
... to eradicate brucellosis in bison in some national parks and wildlife refuges. Bison herds managed with a herd plan were generally successful in eliminating brucellosis.
From page 108...
... The combination of vaccination, serologic testing, and management with removal of reactor bison allowed Wind Cave National Park to eliminate brucellosis in 21 years. The program for the bison in Custer State Park followed lines of a commercial ranching operation.
From page 109...
... Tested Year Custer State Park Wind Cave National Park 1961 1 19/248 (48%)
From page 110...
... Management strategies to disperse elk from the beetling grounds for the 3 months before calving combined with an intensive vaccination program might eliminate the disease from elk. Discontinuing winter feeding of elk would eliminate the problem of elk congregating but have the consequence of drastically reducing the number of elk in the Jackson area.
From page 111...
... One program suggested for control and eventual eradication is vaccination and test and slaughter of bison and elk witty restriction of perimeter cattle herds to steers and monitoring of peripheral cow herds. Key elements ofthe program are listen]
From page 112...
... FIELD DELIVERY OF AVACCINATION PROGRAM FORYNP BISON Given the high seropositivity rate in YNP bison (about 50~) , several people have noted that a test-and-slaughter program to eliminate brucellosis would differ little from a depopulation program.
From page 113...
... As noted above, brucellosis was eliminated in one herd (Wind Cave National Park) with vaccination and test and slaughter.
From page 114...
... Venereal immunization of cows by purposeful infection of dominant breeding bulls at the right time so that the infection is at its peak in the breeding season theoreticallywouIc! immunize most ofthe aclult females in the population byvaccinating only a small subset often population.
From page 115...
... the GYA to steers. Limiting cattle production will not eliminate brucellosis; elk will remain throughout a large landscape.
From page 116...
... For example, if the goal were to maintain an effective population of at least 500 bison for gene conservation, an actual population of 1,087-2,381 would be required. Protein-electrophoresis data suggest that the YNP herd and the Wind Cave National Park herd have the highest l~eterozygosity (a measure of genetic diversity)
From page 117...
... Whatever the explanation for the apparent absence of unique alleles, the DNA eviclence suggests that conservation of genetic diversity is not a major issue in the management ofthe YNP bison. Technical decisions can be baser]
From page 118...
... To some critics of YNP policies, the need to control ungulates to prevent irruptive population behavior and its consequent detriment to vegetation is a guiding principle in ecology. Obviously, the knowlecige and technical capability are available to manage bison and elk to stabilize their numbers inside YNP at some upper limit.
From page 119...
... Human intervention was ubiquitous; it was, and still is, hard to find places where natural behavior could be observed as a "control." That ungulate populations in undisturbed nature tended toward an equilibrium based on interactions with predation and resources was inferred from the assumption that natural predators caused effects equivalent to human hunting in the cases in which hunting had stabilized populations (Leopold 1933, 19401. Early results in the moose and wolf populations in Isle Royale National Park gave initial credence to the equilibrium view (Mech 1966, 1970; Allen 1979)
From page 120...
... Whether the recently reintroduced wolves, whose population has grown quickly to about 100, will have an appreciable effect on bison anti elk population growth remains to be seen. A computer mocle]
From page 121...
... A concept in ecology that well could be applied to the YNP elk and bison population issue is that of source-ancl-sink dynamics (Pulliam 1988~. It is based on the common observation that some habitat patches favorable to a species result in production of new inclivicluals greater than can be supported in the habitat patch; subsequent population pressure results in the dispersal of part ofthe population into surrounding poor habitats where reproduction and survival are low.
From page 122...
... The buffer zones also could be linked with perimeter zones for brucellosis control discusseci earlier. ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT Because neither sufficient information nor technical capability is available to implement a brucellosis-eradication program in the GYA at present, eradication as a goal is more a statement of principle than a workable program.
From page 123...
... abortus in the GYA. Adaptive management means conducting management activities as hypothesis tests, the outcome of which will direct the subsequent efforts to achieve the ultimate goal.


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