Ranch hands and members of The Nature Conservancy gathered early last Sunday at the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve for the 31st bison roundup. The annual event helps control diseases in the bison population and identifies surplus animals born in the herd.
The bison get blood drawn, receive vaccinations and get their weight documented. Some excess bison are donated to the InterTribal Buffalo Council to be reintroduced on tribal lands; others may be sold. “I’ve been around cattle operations my whole life, and the bison are different,” said Harvey Payne, community relations coordinator with The Nature Conservancy.
“They accumulate stress — they didn’t evolve going through a set of corrals; they don’t like anything about it. “So we put them through a working chute. We try to have them in that chute for less than a minute,” Payne said about processing 300 to 500 bison a day before they are released into a 1,400-acre pasture.
People are also reading...
Mike Gundy sends message to Oklahoma State football fans 2024 election results for Tulsa and Oklahoma Oklahoma State president releases statement following Mike Gundy comments Berry Tramel: Does Mike Gundy still want to coach; Do OSU donors still want him to? What we learned about Patty Gasso's 2025 Sooners during OU softball's fall slate Greg Sankey's ruling might limit fake injuries in SEC, but Mike Gundy has a better solution Monroe Nichols wins in convincing fashion to become Tulsa's 41st mayor Wh.
