Wildlife Management - The Animals Arrive
Bison Bull NPS Photo The Journey Begins The bison were a gift from the New York Zoological and the American Bison Societies. Simply getting these animals to the park was quite a story. Fred Dille, of the U.S. Biological Survey, was in charge of transporting the bison. 
Loading Bison onto a Train NPS Photo Archive Destination: South Dakota In New York, the bison were loaded onto an express train. They arrived in Hot Springs, a 2000-mile trip, 2 1/2 days later. When the train reached Hot Springs, every available truck and cart was pressed into service to get the animals the remaining eleven miles to the preserve. This journey took ten hours! 
Transporting the Bison in Carts NPS Photo Arrival Time By the time the bison reached the preserve, quite a crowd had gathered to see them released. There was only one problem. The bison had no idea how to back out of a crate! This frustrating experience is summarized in the words of Dille: To suggest to a buffalo that he must back out of the crate by poking him in the head… are but a challenge to him and he does not propose to give ground. 
Bison Against the Sunset NPS Photo A New Life The final operation was more like removing the crates from the animals than the animals from the crate. At last, the bison were released and they wandered off into the sunset to begin their new life on the prairie.
For more information about the return of the wildlife to Wind Cave National Park select from the listings below: Conservationists and Hunters Rally |
Did You Know?
Elk were the most widely distributed member of the deer family in North America and spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Mexico to northern Alberta. Elk began to disappear in the eastern United States in the early 1800s. More...