North-central Montana’s Fort Belknap Indian Reservation wants to take a small herd of bison that have been held in quarantine for nearly four years outside Yellowstone National Park. This story says a similar plan by Wyoming’s Northern Arapaho Tribe fell through.

The nearly 50 animals have been spared from a government program that slaughters most bison leaving the park to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis.

In addition to the Fort Belknap tribes, Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo and a private landowner near Fargo, N.D., also want the bison. Monday is the deadline for a second round of proposals to take the animals.

“We need to get the animals out in December,” says Ken McDonald, wildlife administrator with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “They’re crowded and the cows are pregnant again and ideally you want to get them out early in their pregnancy.”

Wildlife officials say the animals are living on about 200 acres near Corwin Springs, Mont., and could be slaughtered if no appropriate taker is found.

Here‘s a more extensive version of the story published in the Chicago Tribune.

Gwen Florio

Tags: bison, brucellosis, buffalo post, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Native American news, Northern Arapaho, Yellowstone National Park