Bison calf stillbirths and miscarriages at game preserve being looked into by experts

By Jessica Guay

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    Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Community members who like to keep an eye on the South Park bison herd are raising concern about bison calf stillbirths and miscarriages.

KDKA-TV has learned this has happened a number of times in recent years. The bison’s biggest supporters want to know what’s wrong, and Allegheny County officials told us they’re trying to get answers.

Bison calves are born at the South Park Game Preserve every Spring, like the two red dogs that arrived last March.

“They’re an incredible animal. They’re incredibly intelligent,” said Tim Foster, one of the founders of Friends of the South Park Buffalo Preserve.

The group helps raise awareness about the largest land animal in North America, and increases interest in visiting the herd.

“We live about a mile from the buffalo, so anytime we’re coming and going, we detour through there to check on them. And now even more so now more so because of where we’re expecting to see some births,” Foster said.

Foster said his wife, Diane, and daughter Tianna visited the large animals this week, and saw one of the females they named Violet in labor.

“You know, excitement turned to you know disappointment when she once you had the baby and there were just no signs of life,” Foster said.

They were heartbroken to see the mama licking and cleaning her deceased baby as other bison gathered around in support.

Last week, a long-time frequent visitor sent Foster a picture of a different female named Clover showing signs she had a miscarriage.

Allegheny County spokesperson Abigail Gardner told KDKA there’ve been a number of stillbirths and miscarriages in the bison herd this year and the past few years. She said they’ve elevated these concerns to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

County parks officials are also working with a new veterinarian at Penn State to understand what may be causing birth issues. The vet will be doing necropsies on the calves that recently didn’t make it to birth. The county is also getting help from additional experts.

Foster said in the past, they’ve been concerned about the bison’s diet, vet care, food trough location, and watering areas.

He’s glad concerns are being addressed by the county.

“We’re doing this in a much better, much more sophisticated way so we can determine, you know, with analysis of their organs, their liver, you know, what type of development or were there any nutritional issues? You know exactly where we’re at. So that really gives us confidence,” Foster said.

Many people ask his group about when the fruit and veggie feedings they used to do for the bison.

The USDA ordered those fruit and veggie feedings to stop in December. County officials said more analysis is being done.

“We’re going to trust the recommendations,” Foster said.

He said Friends of the South Park Buffalo Preserve and the county have made a lot of progress for the beloved bison, but there’s still room to grow.

“We’re all on the same page. We’re trying to do the best for the buffalo. Improve their health and just continually make sure that we can improve their birth rates and the quality and everything else,” Foster said.

“We obviously need to continue to be the eyes and the ears for these animals that really don’t have a voice, so we really have to do that,” he added.

American bison have been roaming South Park since 1927.

You can visit them at the game preserve from dawn to dusk.

There are public feedings on Tuesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m.

You can support Friends of the South Park Buffalo Preserve by following them on Facebook.

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