Colorado bison herd growing much faster than expected

Andy Cross, The Denver Post file
Bison in the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd, a genetically pure Bison with a Yellowstone bloodline, raised by a collaboration between the Colorado State University and local governments, graze inside their pen at the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area on October 27, 2015.

PUBLISHED: June 22, 2019 at 3:22 p.m. | UPDATED: June 22, 2019 at 3:28 p.m.

FORT COLLINS — A bison herd in northern Colorado is growing much faster than expected.

The herd at a natural area north of Fort Collins began three years ago as 10 genetically pure descendants of bison in Yellowstone National Park.

The Fort Collins Coloradoan reports the herd now numbers 76 animals, including a dozen calves born just this year. The natural area doesn’t have enough room for more than 100 bison.

Herd managers expect to reach that number soon.

Colorado State University, the city of Fort Collins and Larimer County hope to raise enough genetically pure, disease-free bison to give or trade to American Indian tribes and conservation organizations.

Herd managers recently sent two bison bulls to a zoo in Oakland, California.

Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan, http://www.coloradoan.com