"For Some Yellowstone Bison, the Roaming Ends at the Slaughterhouse"

"YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Even for a park with a history of unhappy encounters between people and wildlife, 2015 is shaping up as an eventful year for Yellowstone and its bison. Since mid-May, five visitors have been hurt — gored, trampled or tossed into the air — in run-ins with the park’s most famous residents.

The tourists all came away with treatable wounds and memorable stories. For bison, however, the year’s brushes with humans didn’t always end as well.

Since January, more than 500 of the woolly beasts — the most in years — have been chased onto trucks by government workers and hauled to slaughterhouses. Some 200 others that wandered off park grounds were rounded up in a similar fashion or stalked by hunters and shot. Next year’s takings are expected to be still higher, a consequence of a surging population and strict rules that park officials themselves find difficult to carry out."

Joby Warrick reports for the Washington Post August 15, 2015.