https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/theodore-roosevelt-national-park-to-reduce-bison-herd-from-700-to-400-animals/ar-AA1ib0Pt?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ENTPSP&cvid=52e6eb9aeb8040dc9c91ccd0d852f46f&ei=20

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Story by By JACK DURA, Associated Press •6h

FILE – In this May 24, 2017, file photo, a bison grazes in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. National Park officials are planning to gather and reduce the bison herd in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. The “bison capture” is scheduled to start on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, and continue through the week in the park’s South Unit near Medora. (AP Photo/Blake Nicholson, File)© Provided by The Associated Press

National park officials are planning to gather and reduce the bison herd in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, rehoming the animals to a number of Native American tribes.

The “bison capture” is scheduled to start on Saturday and continue through the week in the park’s South Unit near Medora. The operation will be closed to the public for safety reasons.

The park plans to reduce its roughly 700 bison to 400. The park will remove bison of differing ages.

Related video: Book available to accompany PBS show about the American bison history (KPAX Missoula, MT)

deep connection to indigenous communities and the land.

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Bison removed from the park will be rehomed and come under tribal management, InterTribal Buffalo Council Executive Director Troy Heinert told The Associated Press.

The bison will provide genetic diversity and increase numbers of existing tribal herds, he said. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will receive bison; more bison could go to other tribes, depending on demographics, said Heinert, who is Sicangu Lakota.

A helicopter will herd bison into a holding area, with a survey of the landscape and a population count before the gathering of the bison.

The park alternates captures every year between its North Unit and South Unit, to maintain the numbers of the herd due to limited space and grazing and for herd health reasons, Deputy Superintendent Maureen McGee-Ballinger told the AP.

• Published6 hours ago

Share https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-67088869

Guillemots, kittiwakes and terns in Scotland have suffered “huge losses” this summer due to avian flu, according to Scotland’s nature agency.

There were among 9,610 reports of dead and sick wild birds reported to NatureScot between 3 April and 1 October, mostly along the east coast.

Experts say there are signs some birds are building immunity to the virus.

But at Aberdeenshire’s Forvie National Nature Reserve alone more than 40% of this year’s tern chicks died.

NatureScot said that a degree of natural mortality is normal among tern chicks, but the scale and sudden nature of avian flu-related deaths this past summer has been unusual.

And when combined with the number of adult deaths reported, the losses are extremely concerning for the recovery of the long-lived birds.

The avian flu outbreak in wild birds in the UK began in 2021. Its risk to human health is low.

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Following a quiet start to spring this year, a sudden increase in mortalities began in June and reached a peak in mid-July when around 2,300 sick and dead birds were reported to NatureScot in a two-week period.

The agency said guillemots, kittiwakes, and terns have experienced huge losses at their breeding colonies this summer.

The highest number of reported mortalities were among guillemots, a seabird of the auk family – 3,519 deaths were reported over the summer.

Eileen Stuart, NatureScot’s deputy director of nature and climate change, said: “With very few great skua and gannet deaths this summer, we are hopeful that some wild birds are building immunity to HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza].

“But other species, such as kittiwakes and terns that were impacted last year, have still been greatly affected this year.”

‘Wake-up call’

The agency said many seabirds are already experiencing multiple pressures and population declines and they are trying to understand why some species have been hit harder than others.

It also said populations are likely to take years to recover, with an estimated 20,000 seabirds perishing from avian flu in summer 2022 in addition to the deaths this summer.

Claire Smith, the senior policy officer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, said it was devastating to see thousands of dead birds again this year.

“This needs to be a wake-up call to step up the speed and scale of practical conservation actions to help our globally important seabird populations recover,” she said.

by: Krista Burns

Posted: Oct 10, 2023 / 03:14 PM CDT

Updated: Oct 10, 2023 / 04:32 PM CDT

SHARE https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/south-dakota-1-of-13-states-opposing-law-on-strict-hog-housing/

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — 13 states, including South Dakota, are opposing a new Massachusetts law involving strict hog-housing requirements.

This means states cannot sell or ship pork through Massachusetts if they do not meet the new requirements.

The law, which was passed by voters in 2016, requires pigs have enough room to turn around and lie down.An autumn storm will bring rain and snow to KELOLAND

The states fighting against this new law say it will cost pork producers across the country hundreds of millions of dollars and dramatically raise pork prices.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court backed a similar law in California that requires more space for breeding pigs.