A bison from the herd on the Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana. Photo by Bronc Speak Thunder / Facebook
The Montana Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory said 19 bison on the Fort Belknap Indian Community likely from salt poisoning but President Mark Azure disputed the finding. Salt toxicosis typically occurs due to water deprivation. Azure insisted that wasn't the case with the animals that died on the reservation this summer. “We at Fort Belknap do not agree with that,” Azure told the Montana Legislature's Environmental Quality Council on Wednesday, The Great Falls Tribune reported. “We were in that pasture. There was water in that trough.” The animals were found dead during and after the July 4 weekend. They came from genetically-pure group of bison that the tribe accepted from Yellowstone National Park in 2012. Audio and video from the September 10 meeting of the Environmental Quality Council includes the discussion about the Fort Belknap bison. The report can be accessed via item 17 in the index. Get the Story:
Fort Belknap bison died of salt toxicosis (The Great Falls Tribune 9/10)
Veterinarian: Fort Belknap bison killed by salt poisoning (The Helena Independent Record 9/10)
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