Crane Trust genetically pure bison herd is growing

[Omaha Steve]

X post in GD



LORI POTTER / WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE
A bison mom and her “cinnamon” are among a half-dozen cow-calf pairs in a Shoemaker Island prairie pasture at the Crane Trust south of Alda. Crane Trust staff don’t know how many calves to expect this spring from the herd’s 12 mature cows and five heifers — young females that haven’t borne a calf — because some cows don’t calve in back-to-back years.


http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/crane-trust-genetically-pure-bison-herd-is-growing/article_af42bb9a-034b-11e5-9c03-d7bd20fffedb.html

POSTED: TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2015 12:30 AM
By Lori Potter / World-Herald News Service

ALDA, Neb. — The six reddish-brown babies shadowing their mothers on a Shoemaker Island prairie between channels of the Platte River don’t know they are making history.

The calves are the first generation of genetically pure bison to be born in the Platte Valley for generations. They will grow up on Crane Trust land they now share with older siblings, other adults and two dominant bulls that arrived in January and early February from Rim Rock Ranch near Crawford.

“They really do take care of themselves out there in the field for the most part,” said Crane Trust Senior Director Brice Krohn. He said the cows go off to isolated areas to give birth and rejoin the herd when the calves are a couple of days old.

Daily checks of the Crane Trust Legacy Herd by land manager Tim Smith, bison coordinator Jacob Salter and other staff have been more exciting the past two weeks as the number of 40- to 60-pound newborns, called “cinnamons,” keeps growing.

FULL story and related stories at link.

Genetically pure bison released into 300-acre pasture near Grand Island

Herd of 39 genetically pure bison arrives at Crane Trust

Rare bison coming home to Crane Trust



LORI POTTER / WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE

A Crane Trust Legacy Herd yearling blends into tall dry grass in a section of native tall grass and mixed-grass prairie.