Yellowstone bison entering Montana face slaughter, hunters

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — One of the last and largest wild bison populations in North America has begun its migration out of Yellowstone National Park.

As the animals enter southwestern Montana they face hunting and government-sponsored slaughter as part of a population reduction program. State and federal officials want to reduce the park’s bison herds this winter by up to 900 animals under an agreement intended to shield Montana’s cattle industry from the disease brucellosis.

The park has more than 4,000 bison.

Hunters from American Indian tribes with treaty rights in the Yellowstone region have killed more than 50 bison leaving the park so far this year.