Beefalo creating Problems in Grand Canyon

Back in half the early 1900s, half cow and half bison hybrids were introduced to Arizona. They were introduced as part of a beef production breeding program. But, now the beefalo are causing problems in the Grand Canyon.

In April 2014, a group of beefalo living in the Grand Canyon was covered by the Christian Science Monitor. According to Christian Science Monitor, the bison no longer look similar to cattle but still it has about 10% cattle in their genes.

It has been informed that the huge animals have decreased vegetation in meadows to nubs. These are also very thirsty animals. One beefalo has capacity to drink 10 gallons of water at the time of each trip to the watering hole.

According to BBC reports, insects, animals, and rare plants are unbalancing the ecosystem. BBC has shown the damage done at Little Park Lake, which is of the area’s most essential water sources.

“In terms of what could be here, 80 percent of our vegetation and other species rely on these very limited water sources. Lakes like this in the park and surrounding area —there are probably seven in total”, said Martha Hahn, science and natural resources manager at the Grand Canyon National Park.

It is very difficult to solve the problem of beefalo and according to experts, birth control has been not successful in managing the increasing reproduction rates of the beefalo. It has been proposed to let hunters to include beefalos to their list but various Native American groups were against the killing of animals for sport. The other methods are lethal and non-lethal consequences, involving herding, corralling or administering a different kind of contraceptive.