Roaming Buffalo Cause Havoc In Grand Canyon National Park

The growing bison herd occupying the northern reaches of Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park is decimating the area's ecosystem, and some conservationists are ready to call in the hunters.

The 600-head herd rarely if ever strays from the 1,900-square-mile park, where hunting is banned. If they were to stampede into the adjacent Kaibab National Forest, they might find themselves in the crosshairs of hunters with permits to bag them, but inside the park they are safe - and free to wreak havoc.

"As long as there's no lethal removal of bison, our ability to remove them is greatly diminished," said Craig McMullen, the regional director of Arizona Game and Fish Department's Flagstaff office.

The state claims ownership of all bison in the state, and sells "tags," or permits, for hunters to kill them. While no hunting is allowed in the national park, the National Park Service has the authority to kill animals that harm resources, using park staff or volunteer shooters. But there are no trophy heads or hides to be kept and the meat is handed over to wildlife agencies, tribes or charities to distribute. Arizona officials say the only answer to thinning out the herd, which effectively has no natural predators, is to declare a hunting season.

"If you want them out of the park, you are going to have to annihilate them; shoot every last one of them," Gary Howell, a former bison hunting guide in the region, said. "Once these lead cows know where to go, you'll never move them."

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