This is embarrassing. If I happened to be traveling abroad and somebody asked me about this, I would feel ashamed and I would have no answers to give. Grand Canyon National Park culls the herd of bison from time to time, to avoid damage to the ecosystem. So some genius in the parks department came up with the idea of opening up “lethal removal” to the public — and it’s caught on like a carnival act. P.T. Barnum would be impressed. Agence France Presse via Raw Story:
They received more than 45,000 applications in just two days, and selected an initial group of 25 names by drawing lots.
These will be vetted to make sure they meet the standards of marksmanship and physical fitness required to carry out the cull, and the final 12 will be selected by May 17.
All volunteers must be US citizens and have their own hunting rifle. Each person will be authorized to kill one bison each, and will not be allowed to use a motor vehicle to get about in the area of the cull, which is off-limits to cars.
The carcasses will be shared out among volunteers and “any parts not desired by volunteers will be transferred to the Tribal governments of GCNP’s 11 traditionally associated tribes,” the spokeswoman said.
“We expected a high number,” said Thomas. “There was considerable interest when the lethal removal program was announced.”
The “lethal removal” is not exactly a hunt, the park service said, because it is controlled by the park authorities themselves, and serves public as well as recreational interests.
Makes you wonder how many people would rush to sign up to shoot humans, doesn’t it? At one time I would have said, what a great premise for a sci fi story. Anymore, I’m not sure.Â
This is BS, is what this is. I think ALL the carcasses should go to the tribes. Forget the teeny weeny peepee compensators.
The “volunteers” shouldn’t get anything if they’re volunteers. If they’re going to be paid, then they only get the heads. And are solely responsible for getting them home.
If I’m going on a bison hunt I want some meat. The only things the head is good for is the tongue to eat and the brain for tanning the hide.
Rule of thumb, 1 deer brain tans 1 deer hide, 1 mouse brain tans 1 mouse hide.
It’s a cull for habitat management and not that many bison will be killed. So, instead of using federal wildlife agents or THIS crap my preference would be to have local Native American tribal councils decide who would do the hunting and what to do with the carcasses. All of them that lived for ages on buffalo range territory had ceremonies for before and after hunts. This would seem a perfect opportunity for them to revive a bit of their cultural heritage practices for young people.
That is exactly what I thought. Let the tribe in charge of the whole thing.
that’s exactly what I would have said. And give them rein of the carcasses too. Why didn’t they do that anyway.
brilliant
Great suggestion, instead of waving the checkered flag at every yahoo out there.
These hunters are pathetic, killing a large animal from a few meters away with a large gun. Maybe we can have them kill sheep in a pen. I have a better idea, hunting licenses for rats in the new york city subway system. now that is a challenge.
At least demand a monetary compensation for having to sift through 45000 people with guns, any one of who might get mighty pissed when they don’t get picked. Or was that done in their off hours? Common sense obviously didn’t factor in here.
Why was this not offered to the Native Americans first? They were the original peoples here in this country, and hunting bison was a daily part of their lives. Anything left over to be give to the Native Americans? So typical. They still do not have the respect and honor they deserve!