Nov 20, 2009 1:57 pm US/Pacific
Catalina Island Buffalo To Get Birth Control
SANTA CATALINA ISLAND (AP) ―
Birth control for buffaloes?
That's what conservationists are giving bison on Santa Catalina Island. Operations announced Friday involve inoculating females with a yearly contraceptive.
The Catalina Island Conservancy is trying to keep the herd of huge, shaggy animals to an environmentally manageable 150.
As many as 600 once roamed the island, located about 25 miles south of the Los Angeles coast. In the past, their numbers were kept down by culling and deportation. About 150 were shipped to a reservation last month at a cost of $100,000.
The five-year experimental contraception program is considered a cheaper alternative that's also less stressful for the bison.
The feral animals are descended from 14 American buffalo that a film crew shipped over in 1924 for a Western. They were never used.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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