Hundreds gather for annual bison roundup — the 'Super Bowl' for parks workers


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ANTELOPE ISLAND — Park manager Jeremy Shaw spends months planning for it and then loves every minute of driving more than 700 head of bison into corrals for processing each year.

"This is my favorite part of this job," he said of the annual bison roundup. "It's our Super Bowl."

Not only is it fun for the more than 200 volunteer cowboys and cowgirls who come from all over the state and country to participate, but the roundup is the primary tool to control the size of the bison herd on Antelope Island. Biologists have determined that about 550 bison can live on the island and still maintain the vibrant ecosystem, which includes other wildlife.

Shaw said the island, however, "is known for its bison."

It became Mckinley Merritt's favorite animal after her family's first vacation to the island years ago when she was just 3 months old. She said she likes that they're "big and brown" and "soft and furry."

Mckinley, along with her dad, Dustin Merritt, got special invitations from Shaw to witness this year's roundup, as the park manager saw the 6-year-old's love for bison last year when the family came to see the animals vaccinated and processed.

"It's better than I ever thought it would be," Merritt said Saturday. "I know I've never had an opportunity to get this close to a herd of bison and to see her so excited about it is a father's dream."

Mckinley was almost giddy all morning long, grinning from ear to ear, holding her stuffed animal bison, aptly named "Buffalo," close.

The roundup, in its 30th year, moves the migratory, grazing herd from scattered regions of the southern tip of the island to a fenced area at the north end. In all, it's about 14 miles of terrain and the more-than-1,000-pound mammals don't necessarily want to make the move.

"They have a mind of their own," said Neil Patterson, one of the team captains who led the roundup. He said the experience is entirely different from herding cattle.

Bison, which were brought to the island in small numbers in 1893 as a conservation effort, Patterson said, can be dangerous and will charge anything threatening.

Earlier this year, a portion of the island was burned by wildfire, ignited by lightning. Much of the vegetation was scorched, leaving less for growing herds to munch on.

With no predators on the island capable of taking down a bison, it is necessary to artificially reduce the size of the herd to balance the food supply the grasslands can produce. This year, a larger number of bison than usual will be sold, to better manage re-growth and re-seeding of the once-charred hillsides.

"That's how we keep the island healthy," Shaw said.

Vehicles track the movement of the bison herd along Antelope Island Road during the 30th annual bison roundup at Antelope Island State Park on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Some 700 bison were corralled from the island's southern end to handling facilities at the north end, for health assessments and sale to reduce the size of the herd and maintain the island's ecosystem. (Photo: Nick Wagner, Deseret News)
Vehicles track the movement of the bison herd along Antelope Island Road during the 30th annual bison roundup at Antelope Island State Park on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Some 700 bison were corralled from the island's southern end to handling facilities at the north end, for health assessments and sale to reduce the size of the herd and maintain the island's ecosystem. (Photo: Nick Wagner, Deseret News)

Along with picking off a couple hundred bison that will be sold, the roundup provides an opportunity to perform a health assessment on the animals, including vaccinations, blood-typing and weighing. The process is open to the public and begins on the island on Thursday.

A public auction will be held at the corrals on Nov. 5 at 8 a.m.

The bison sell for up to $3,000, depending on their size and the bidding of the day, said park curator Clay Shelley. Any revenues are put back into the Wildlife and Habitat Management Plan, which manages the herd and provides for protection, preservation and conservation efforts on the island, as well as development demands to provide quality visitor experiences.

"It's one of the only places you could go to see something like this," said Warren Gregory, of Scarborough, New York. Gregory and his wife, Julia, have a home in Deer Valley, and planned a trip to Utah in October to have the opportunity to witness the roundup.

"It's magnificent," he said of the scenery on the island, which reminded him of his time spent in Utah as an Army officer in the 1960s.

"There is a vast beauty here that is probably virtually unchanged from what it was hundreds of years ago," Gregory said. Julia Gregory said the colors of the fall landscape on the island reminded her of "cashmere."

"And such a diverse group of people come together and appreciate it," he said.

Kristal Kraft came from Denver to photograph the bison. She's looking to help decorate her sister's cabin-themed house in Vermont, but she was also visiting Salt Lake friends Candy and Mike Smith, who recently moved to Utah from Chicago.

"We have found we really like it here," Mike Smith said.

They were all part of a crowd of hundreds of locals, tourists and other visitors who watched as the volunteer posse brought the massive herd of bison — one of the largest and oldest publicly owned in the nation — through White Rock Bay on the west side of the island and up into the corrals.

"It was a great ride," Shaw said, adding that it is a lot of work, both for the men and women who ride, but also the horses.

"It reminds us of the Old West," said Shelley. "To see those bison coming through like that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that some people get to do every year. But it really has us remembering the Old West."

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