ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources donated 23 yearling bison to three conservation organizations this fall as part of efforts to expand bison populations across the region.
The DNR maintains a herd of 115 to 145 bison between Minneopa State Park in Blue Earth County and Blue Mounds State Park in Rock County. The Minnesota Bison Conservation Herd also 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.”…