From the Los Angeles Times in the USA:
November 27, 2009 | 5:53 pm
Twenty-three donated bison were released in Mexico’s northern state of Chihuahua as part of an effort to have at least 100 of the animals roaming the country within three years, officials said Friday.
Large herds of bison once existed in parts of northern Mexico and their return could help regenerate natural grassland in the Rancho El Uno nature reserve, said Environment Secretary Juan Elvira Quesada, according to news reports.
Quesada called on the U.S. to stop building border fences that can disrupt the natural migration routes of animals, the Associated Press reported.
The 23 bison, which came from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, are part of a cooperative between the two countries to restore bison to their historical range in Mexico, officials said.
Bringing bison back to North American landscapes: here.
A long effort by American Indians and conservationists brings genetically pure bison to the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana: here.
Millennia-old Bison killing field found in Montana: here.
Canadian Bison Prepare For Journey To Repopulate Russia: here.
3 Things to Learn from Bison Conservation… Have you seen bison in the wild? Here.
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Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Plan to return bison to American plains begins
5:32 PM Tuesday Mar 20, 2012
Sixty-four bison from Yellowstone National Park were shipped almost 800 kilometres to northeast Montana’s Fort Peck Reservation today, under a long-stalled relocation initiative meant to repopulate parts of the West with the iconic animals.
They arrived greeted by a crowd of dozens of tribal members whose flashing cameras spooked some of the animals, while others charged straight into the holding pen. A yearling bison died during the trip, leaving 63, said Fort Peck Fish and Game Director Robert Magnan.
The transfer anticipated for months came in the middle of a snowstorm and with no prior public announcement, as state and tribal officials sought to avoid a courtroom battle with opponents worried about bison competing with cattle for grazing space.
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer described the move as a major step in efforts to restore Yellowstone’s genetically pure bison across a larger landscape.
“This is where we’re going to establish the beachhead of genetically pure bison that will be available as their numbers grow to go to other reservations and other public lands all across the West,” Schweitzer said.
Tribal and state officials signed an agreement Friday allowing the transfer to take place, Magnan said.
Caught off guard were landowners and property rights groups that opposed the relocation. They filed a request for a temporary restraining order Monday afternoon to halt the move.
Helena attorney Cory Swanson said moving the animals without public notice following years of controversy amounted to a “sneak attack.”
After state District Judge John McKeon in Glasgow did not rule on the request by the close of business Monday, Swanson said he would return Tuesday with a request for the animals to be ordered back to the Yellowstone area.
Fort Peck Chairman Floyd Azure responded Monday night by saying that the state has no jurisdiction now that the bison are on the reservation.
“Now that they’re here, they are here to stay,” Azure said.
For the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Fort Peck, tribal leaders said the relocation offers a chance to revive their connection with an animal that historically provided food, clothing and shelter for their ancestors.
The trip from Yellowstone was capped by a welcoming caravan of tribal members who fell into line behind the trailers that carried the bison across the Missouri River and onto the reservation.
A drum group gathered to sing a traditional song of welcome as the bison were unloaded in a field 40 kilometres north of Poplar.
“This has deep spiritual meaning for us. They are the sole survivors from our ancestors,” said Leland Spotted Bird, a Dakota tribal elder and spiritual leader.
Most bison, also known as buffalo, are hybrids that have been interbred with cattle. Yellowstone’s animals are said to represent one of the world’s last remaining reservoirs of pure bison genetics.
Details of the shipment were kept quiet until it was under way. Magnan said the state and tribes were trying to avoid an injunction after Swanson’s clients filed a lawsuit in state District Court in January seeking to block the transfer.
Schweitzer said there was no attempt to keep the relocation under wraps, adding that the state did not finalize the agreement with the tribe until late Friday.
Prior attempts to relocate Yellowstone bison failed because of opposition from cattle producers and difficulty finding public or tribal land suitable for the animals.
State wildlife officials have said the relocation of the Yellowstone bison may help answer the question of whether the species can be successfully reintroduced to some public lands in Montana. Aggressive hunting in the 19th century wiped out the vast herds of millions of bison that once roamed freely across most of North America.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who oversees most federal lands in the West, applauded Monday’s transfer. Salazar has said further Yellowstone bison relocations are under consideration for public lands in Colorado, South Dakota and elsewhere.
About half of the animals heading to Fort Peck could be transferred later this year to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in central Montana. Fences for those animals have not yet been completed.
For the past several years, the animals have been confined to quarantine just north of the Yellowstone.
They were captured leaving the park during their winter migration and tested extensively to make sure they were free of brucellosis. That disease, which can cause pregnant animals to abort their young, was for many years the primary argument for preventing Yellowstone bison from roaming freely outside the park.
But critics of the relocation have lingering worries about bison competing with cattle for rangeland.
State Sen. Rick Ripley, a Wolf Creek Republican and plaintiff in the landowners’ lawsuit, criticized Monday’s move and said it was in defiance of a law passed last year that required officials to come up with a statewide bison management plan before moving the animals.
“They just seem to think they are above the law,” Ripley said. “They’re going to have a lot of problems with damage to private property that they could have addressed prior to translocation.”
Schweitzer aide Mike Volesky said the new law requires a management plan specific to transferred bison, not a statewide plan.
The 63 bison and their offspring will remain inside a fenced compound on the reservation, Magnan said.
The tribes already have about 200 bison in a commercial herd used for meat and hunting.
-AP
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We already have the bald eagle as our national emblem, and just seeing one reminds us of our pride in our beautiful country. But which of America’s animals deserves the coveted position of National Mammal?
This election year, we have the perfect nominee – one that’s impeccably qualified to join the bald eagle as a symbol of America.
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Thanks so much for your help. You and other people from your state are crucial in this historic grassroots campaign.
Sincerely,
Keith Aune
Senior Conservationist and Bison Coordinator
Wildlife Conservation Society
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