Remote Delivery Bison Vaccination Program

The National Park Service is considering the remote delivery of vaccine to free-ranging bison in Yellowstone National Park for the non-native disease brucellosis. Remote delivery vaccination would not involve capture and handling of bison.

Remote delivery vaccination should increase tolerance for bison migrating to historic and essential winter ranges outside the park in Montana pursuant to the 2000 state and federal Records of Decision for the Interagency Bison Management Plan. Remote delivery vaccination would also reduce the brucellosis infection rate and fetal abortion events in bison, as well as the risk of brucellosis transmission to cattle outside the park.

Three alternatives are evaluated in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The no action alternative describes the current hand vaccination program that is sporadically implemented at a capture facility (Stephens Creek) in the northern portion of the park. The second alternative includes a combination of hand vaccination at the capture facility and remote delivery vaccination that would focus exclusively on young, non-pregnant bison. A third alternative includes all components of the second alternative and the remote vaccination of adult females.