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Nearly 60 Bison Moved Off Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim

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By Compiled From N... - September 20th, 2022
A herd of bison in a meadow on the North Rim (NPS Photo/L. Cisneros)

A herd of bison in a meadow on the North Rim/NPS, L. Cisneros

Nearly 60 bison of questionable genetic background have been moved off the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and shipped to the Intertribal Buffalo Council, which in turn sent the animals to the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

The collection and transfer was done September 11 when park wildlife managers captured 58 bison. Since reduction efforts began in 2018, park staff has removed 203 bison from the North Rim, with 182 transferred to eight different American Indian tribes through an agreement with the  InterTribal Buffalo Council.   

In 2014, the National Park Service initiated a science-based planning process to manage bison overpopulation at Grand Canyon National Park. In 2017, using the best science available and working closely with the public, the state of Arizona and American Indian tribes, park managers finalized the Initial Bison Herd Reduction Plan to reduce the herd from 600 to fewer than 200 bison using live capture and transfer, as well as limited lethal removal. This goal is being met as the 2021-2022 winter population estimate for the herd was approximately 216 animals before calving occurred. In the last three years, between live capture and removal (by the NPS) and hunter harvest (AZGFD), approximately 358 bison have been removed from the herd. This estimate does not include 2022 hunter harvests on lands outside the park.

The bison on the rim descended from a late 19th century effort by Charles 'Buffalo' Jones to cross cattle with bison with hopes of creating a sturdier animal that could withstand the cold and snowy winters of the Plains and carry a higher value at market.

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