Nov. 21, 2003 — Approximately one-third of Santa Catalina Island's 300 bison were shipped back to their ancestral home on the plains of South Dakota earlier this month.
The nonnative animals have lived on Catalina Island since 1924, when 14 animals were brought in for the filming of a silent movie, "The Vanishing American."
The finished film contained no footage of bison, but the woolly beasts were allowed to stay on the island and have proliferated there ever since.
As the island's managers began to focus on conservation in later years, the resident status of the bison became a controversial issue.
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A study released last year showed that the bison have severely damaged native plants by grazing, trampling, wallowing and rubbing themselves against trees to scratch or shed their coats.
The study also showed that the bison have nearly caused the eradication of the Catalina Island fox — a tiny native that is similar in size to a housecat.
Conservationists and animal rights activists have been trying to find an amicable solution to these problems. For the sake of native plant life, the groups concluded that the bison would have to leave Catalina Island.
But business interests on the island, which survive on tourism, have long argued that the animals should stay. The bison are extremely popular with tourists and are considered one of Catalina's biggest attractions. They help draw hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.
In time, a compromise was reached between conservationists, animal lovers and business interests: 150 animals would go back to South Dakota, while 150 stayed put on the Island. So, on Nov. 11, 104 bison were shipped off to the Great Plains.
"They didn't want to go," said Bill Dyer, regional director of In Defense of Animals, which raised more than $25,000 for the bisons' travel expenses.
The transfer was coordinated with the help of the Catalina Island Conservancy, which now oversees 88 percent of Catalina.
Although the conservancy has sparred with animal rights activists over how to reduce the numbers of nonnative animals in the past, they were able to work together to send the bison back to South Dakota.
Even as the bison were loaded onto trucks and rolled off to complete the first leg of their 1,700-mile journey, the conservancy staff released five foxes as part of their program to restore the endangered animals' population.
As for the bison, they will now live — and hopefully prosper — on two Dakota reservations: the Standing Rock Reservation and the Cheyenne River Reservation.
Sioux tribal members, intent on increasing the number of bison in their native tall grass prairies, greeted the woolly creatures on their return with a traditional blessing.
Karen Sussman, a resident of the Cheyenne River Reservation who found homes for the bison, said their arrival in South Dakota fulfills prophecies foretold within the community that predicted the return of the animals to their ancestral homes.
"They're coming home to the Plains," Sussman said. "It's not often that you take buffalo and bring them back home. It's a beautiful story."
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Name: American Bison (Bison bison)
Primary Classification: Bovidae (Cattle and Relatives) Location: Canada and the United States. Habitat: Mainly grasslands and meadows. Diet: Mainly grasses and grasslike plants. Also berries, lichens and horsetails. Size: Up to 11 ft in length and 2,200 lbs in weight. Description: Long, shaggy, brownish-black hair on head, neck, shoulders and forelegs; short, light brown hair on hindquarters; large, heavy head; broad forehead; short, hollow, upturned horns; straggly, bearded chin; males have a shoulder hump. Cool Facts: It is the largest mammal on the North American continent. Early American explorers estimated its population at 60 million; by 1900, fewer than 1,000 remained. Conservation Status: Lower Risk (Conservation Dependent) Major Threat: Habitat loss. What Can I Do?: Visit the Buffalo Field Campaign for information on how you can help. |
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