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The Hook Lake Wood Bison Recovery Project
Author(s) -
NISHI J. S.,
ELKIN B. T.,
ELLSWORTH T. R.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2002.tb04384.x
Subject(s) - herd , brucellosis , mycobacterium bovis , bison bison , brucella , veterinary medicine , wildlife , biology , brucella abortus , tuberculosis , zoology , medicine , ecology , mycobacterium tuberculosis , pathology
A bstract : The Hook Lake Wood Bison Recovery Project (HLWBRP) is a wildlife conservation project aimed at recovering a captive, disease‐free herd of wood bison ( Bison bison athabascae ) from a wild herd infected with bovine tuberculosis ( Mycobacterium bovis ) and brucellosis ( Brucella abortus ). The disease eradication protocol that we have used involves a combination of techniques, including (1) orphaning of newborn wild‐caught calves to minimize exposure to B. abortus and M. bovis , (2) testing calves for maternal antibodies to brucellosis in the field prior to inclusion in the project, (3) isolating calves in pairs to prevent potential spread of disease, (4) prophylactic treatment using antimycobacterial and anti‐ Brucella drugs, and (5) an intensive whole‐herd testing program for both diseases and removal of reactors. From 1996 to 1998, we captured a total of 62 calves; presently, 58 individuals comprise the founder herd. The captive‐born cohorts consist of 7 two‐year‐olds, 21 yearlings, and 22 calves. To date, there have been no cases of bovine tuberculosis or brucellosis in the captive herd.