January 2014: Yellowstone National Park managers have rejected a plan to use air rifles to vaccinate the nation's last herd of purebred bison against the cattle disease brucellosis.This is despite worries from the ranching community that unvaccinated bison could put cattle in neighbouring states at risk from the bacterial disease, which can cause cows and bison to miscarry.
Park officials said they decided against vaccination because of its $9 million price tag, questions about its effectiveness, and its possible impact on the wild bison as it would required shooting the animals once a year for three decades.
"We have concerns about how that repeated contact might impact bison behaviour and their visibility to park visitors," said Al Nash from Yellowstone.
Nash also said there was no documented case of wild bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle, which he said signifies the success of existing measures designed to separate the park's herd from domestic livestock.
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