Students round up buffalo for vaccination
Students helped to vaccinate buffalo last weekend during the 16th annual Buffalo Roundup on Antelope Island.
The roundup features various breeds of free-running buffalo in a closed environment on a seven-mile wide and 26-mile long island.
The roundup began 16 years ago because of a brucellosis scare. The contagious disease causes animals to have abortions or infertility problems and can wipe out entire herds, according to the Institute of Agriculture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It is now controlled by mandatory vaccination.
Frank White, professor for the parks and recreation department, said, “They wanted to make sure that all of the bison were OK, so they put together the roundup so they could check each of them.”
Antelope Island has an animal capacity of 550.
“Every year they have to call out an average of 250 animals from the herd,” White said.
This year, about 30 Utah State University students attended the event through connections with the USU Parks and Recreation Club. For the last five years the club has volunteered its services for the roundup.
The students become very involved in the process of rounding up and testing the buffalo.
Ginger Stanton, a senior exercise science major, said, “We got into trucks, and we chased the buffalo into where they needed to be checked for their shots, and then we chased them back out.”
Part of the testing involves charting the buffalo’s weight and giving it a shot.
“They weigh them and then they analyze which ones need to be taken out and sold,” White said. “Because of the roundup, Antelope Island has the healthiest free-roaming herd of bison in the country.”
Revenue from the sale of each buffalo goes back into the park, allowing it to maintain its role as one of the premiere state parks of Utah, he said.
Emily Watson, a senior therapeutic recreation major, said the roundup was a great experience.
“Most people don’t get a chance to do something like that,” she said.
White believes the event is a good opportunity for his students to get hands-on experience in seeing state parks from a different view.
“Each student is paired up with a state park worker, and they see the real work that goes into managing a state park and wildlife management,” he said.
Patrick Bently, a freshman in parks and recreation, said the buffalo were gathered in a timely manner and without injury.
“Being able to watch how the officers ran the buffalo through was really incredible,” he said.
White said the experience gives the students real-life exposure to managing an isolated herd in a state and wildlife management park.
Watson said she learned the state has to make sure the buffalo are all accounted for and healthy.
“They really keep good tabs on them,” she said.
Stanton said, “We don’t just get down and dirty, but we become as one with them.”
During the Olympics, around eight of the buffalo were moved from Antelope Island to be displayed at Soldier Hollow, an Olympic venue in Heber Valley, Utah.
White said, “When they were finished with the buffalo, the animals couldn’t go back to the island because of contamination and were sold to an Indian tribe.”
This year’s Buffalo Roundup was another success, he said, and ended with a Dutch-oven dinner for all who helped.
-stacipete@cc.usu.edu