Coralling buffalo is difficult and dangerous

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While it’s proven to be difficult to corral the roaming buffalo in Niagara, one bison farmer says it could also be dangerous. Melissa Raftis has the story.

Don’t let their mild manner fool you. “In the open they’re ok, they’re docile. But the problem is when you confine them they’ll jump 10 feet standing still and run 30 miles an hour. They’ll go through a concrete wall.”

Mike Waters has been farming buffalo for 25 years. He says the problem isn’t corralling bison, it’s keeping them calm once they’re confined. “The adrenaline takes over. They blank out on any pain and they go to town on whatever they can.”

When Springvale Bison Farm ships their buffalo, they use a confinement system. Mike Waters says the animals have been known to come up over the 10 foot walls. So how do they climb over it? “They just stand up on their feet. They’re so huge. They spring with their back legs. they’re very powerful animals.”

When they escape into the wild like the adult bison in Niagara, he recommends using a tranquilizer.

“The only way I can see they’re going to tackle these two is by a dart gun using a high drug that will knock them down.” It takes about 15 minutes for the animal to go down. At that point, Waters says the bison can be loaded into a trailer. Then they can be given another drug to slowly bring them back. Even using a tranquilizer can be dangerous. Waters says bison are so large that the dosage is lethal to humans, so whoever is administering it needs to carry the reversal drug.