Yellowstone’s Bison population booming

15/09/2009 07:24:36 Yellowstone bison population
September 2009. Yellowstone National Park has completed a bison count. The population is now estimated to be 3,300, based on a series of aerial surveys conducted in June and July. This comprises 2,800 adult and yearling bison, and 500 calves of the year. The population is about equally distributed between the Central Interior and Northern Range herds.

10% increase over 2008
The population was estimated at 3,000 bison in 2008. The peak population estimate of 4,900 bison was recorded in the summer 2005, but some 1600 were culled in 2007/8 to control the population. The rate of population change in 2009 is within the natural range of expectation for wild bison. The rate at which wildlife populations increase in abundance is a reflection of the combined effects of reproduction and mortality, and is heavily influenced by age structure of the population, and habitat conditions encountered over the course of time.