Paris Hilton & Protective Pedigrees

 Krayton Kerns
6.13.07

You’ve been watching the news; what do you think?   Should an individual’s pedigree entitle them to break the law? Since the answer seems so obvious, why is it happening, and why is it happening in Montana? 

Think about this:  What is the difference between a bison cow and Paris Hilton?  One wanders in and out of the public spotlight posing for the paparazzi, breeding indiscriminately and spreading disease while the other is a blonde California girl with a drinking problem. Yep, they’re different but it’s their similarities that are astounding; both think they are above the law. 

In May, seven cows on a ranch out of Bridger were diagnosed with Brucellosis.  The herd was immediately quarantined and all 300 animals were condemned to slaughter.  Those are the rules. 

A few miles away, 50% of the bison wandering in and out of Yellowstone National Park also test positive for Brucellosis.  They likely have been infected over 100 years.  Because they represent a significant disease threat they too should be quarantined and slaughtered. But, just like Ms Hilton, they have a protective pedigree. Supporters of free roaming bison argue the ancestry of the YNP herd dates back to the late 1800s and thus they are entitled to special privileges.  

Brucellosis is a nasty disease because it infects humans.  In man the disease is called undulant fever and folks are typically infected through the consumption of raw milk from an infected cow.  Victims of this infection are plagued with cyclic fevers that persist for years.  Modern antibiotics can now cure many people but our pioneering ancestors suffered greatly from this ailment. 

In 1854 Louis Pasteur, while working on a wine preservation project, made the discovery that the rapid heating rendered raw milk non-infective.  Thus was the origin of the pasteurization process.   

Because of the public health threat, in 1934 the USDA set out to eliminate this disease from our cow herd through a test and slaughter program.  Fifty years and millions of dollars later they were almost successful.  Brucellosis has essentially been eradicated from the United States.  Only one reservoir of infected animals remains…the bison herd in Yellowstone National Park. 

As this issue makes headlines remember these facts:

     *Under controlled, ideal conditions vaccination is only 60% protective. 

     *50% of the Park bison herd test positive.

     *1% of the northern Yellowstone elk herd test positive.

     *In 1934 the 11.5% of the US cattle herd tested positive.

     *The disease was eliminated in cattle by a test and slaughter program.

     *In animals the disease is principally transmitted through eating of forage contaminated with aborted tissues.  

This problem is a public relations nightmare.  The scientific solution is simple, but that solution is political suicide and that is why nothing has been done, nor will be done. 

Governor Schweitzer’s proposal for a cattle free test-in / test-out buffer zone around the park will have the side effect of increasing the bison wintering capacity of the park.  The buffalo herd, and thus the problem, will grow larger. 

Setting science aside, politically the question becomes whether there are more bison advocate voters in Bozeman and Missoula than there are cattle rancher voters in Scobey and Molt.  The answer is frighteningly obvious. Remember, when considering wolf reintroduction Park administrators polled visitors to Yellowstone, 70% thought it a great idea.  Ranchers were less enthusiastic about feeding wolves, but were few in numbers. Now we have wolves. 

45 days from now the both the bison and Paris Hilton will have migrated home and neither problem will have been fixed.  Again Churchill’s words are fitting, we will “go on hoping someone, someday will fix the problem.”  Feeding the proverbial Brucellosis crocodile hoping he eats us last.  (He already ate Wyoming and Idaho so I guess we are last.)