Minnesota DNR celebrates evolving bison conservation herd

The Minnesota DNR recognized National Bison Day on Nov. 7 by celebrating the continued growth of the Minnesota Bison Conservation Herd and recent donations that are helping establish and expand other herds in Minnesota and beyond. This fall, the DNR donated 23 yearling bison to three different outside organizations with conservation herds. The DNR maintains a herd of 115-145 bison between two state parks: Minneopa in Blue Earth County and Blue Mounds in Rock County. The MBCH also currently includes bison at the Minnesota Zoological Garden and Dakota County’s Spring Lake Park Reserve Bison Prairie. “Partners coordinate management of genetics and disease, and all bison among partner sites are managed as one genetic population,” said Molly Tranel Nelson, DNR resource manager. “After a decade of testing and carefully managing genetics, today we have a herd that has excellent genetic diversity similar to that found in federal conservation herds. It’s the strategy of not ‘putting all our egg