South Dakota Round Up: the Cowboys defy the buffalos !
Twice a year, the buffalos of Custer Park must be rounded up, a high-risk operation.
Danger! In order to control their abundant population, the thousand five hundred wild bovines must be led by about sixty rangers to the corrals of the park where they will be vaccinated and then culled. The protection of fauna is sometimes a paradox. Thus, to ensure the survival of the bison - saved from extinction forty years ago- Custer Park in South Dakota must reduce their population twice a year. The equation is simple: each spring, the herd of a thousand head increases by five hundred babes bisons. During this season, the area of the Grasslands which owes its name to its protein-rich grass, can feed this whole small world, but not during the summer, marked by repeated droughts, nor in winter, which is reputed to be very hard. This is why, in October and February, about sixty rangers, reinforced by a score of four-by-fours, mount their spirited horses and herd the cattle to the corrals of Custer State Park, in order to carry out the selection for the cull.
This operation - baptized Buffalo Roundup - is not without danger. Yet, seeing them grazing, rolling in the summer dust to get rid of insects, or digging in the winter snow with their muzzles in order to reach the grass, and then rubbing up against the rocks and trees to get rid of their winter coats, bison look like large cuddly toys. But beware: disturb a male that is marking his territory or frighten a female protecting her only calf, and this peaceful animal will turn into a wild bovine that will not hesitate to use its eight hundred kilos of muscles…
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