The extent of the creeping threat to herds overseen by the Department of Interior — the backbone of wild bison conservation efforts for North America — is coming into sharper focus amid advances in genetic studies. Federal wildlife authorities now support about 11,000 genetically pure bison with only the slightest traces of cattle interbreeding. But federal wildlife managers and some indigenous communities are loath to adopt such techniques that move away from natural selection in mating. He believes domestic versions of bison will emerge from commercial herds, where bison number 400,000 or more. Wild bison DNA is typically sampled from tail-hair gathered at cattle-style roundups, or with small flesh-biting darts, and even blood samples from animals killed by hunters in remote locations.

Source: ABC News November 03, 2019 16:30 UTC