The Best Bison Genes Are in Sullys Hill, North Dakota

	Bison . Click on image to enlarge. USFWS photo

Is there such a thing as a “purebred” bison herd? Though that may be impossible to authenticate, preliminary analysis has found that the bison herd at Sullys Hill National Game Preserve in North Dakota may be closer to that pure standard than any other herd within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Recent media interest in genetically pure bison has focused on bison with no traces of cattle in their bloodline. The bison herd at Sullys Hill National Game Preserve does not have any detectable hybridization, according to Cami Dixon, biologist at nearby Devils Lake Wetland Management District.

In 1904, President Teddy Roosevelt established the game preserve to provide breeding grounds for wild animals and birds. Bison were reintroduced to Sullys Hill in 1918 from the Portland City Park in Oregon . At that time, the country was concerned about the disappearance of the American bison.

The bison now at the game preserve are descendants of those original herds. The herd averages between 30 and 35 bison, and has held steadily at those numbers for several decades. Today’s emphasis on “purebred” bison is a recent, renewed interest. Over the years, bison were sometimes crossed purposely and accidentally with cattle. Efforts are currently being taken to identify the level of this hybridization of the Fish and Wildlife Service herds. Additional research is underway to determine the genetic impacts of the limited past introductions of other bison into the Sully's Hill bison herd.

For more information, contact Cami Dixon, Devils Lake Wetland Management & Complex, (701) 662-8611, ext. 334.