Buffalo roams for five days before being captured

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

A 1,500-pound buffalo that spent five days strolling through Bourbon County was restrained and returned to its owner Tuesday evening, but not until three tranquilizer shots brought the animal to rest.

Bourbon County Deputy Sheriff John Taylor said the buffalo, which was originally spotted on Saturday, was restrained with ropes at around 8 p.m. in a field just west of Marblecrest Terrace. Taylor said the first tranquilizing attempt took place at 4:24 p.m., and the third took place at around 7 p.m. Three attempts were needed because of the size of the animal, Taylor said, and each tranquilizer shot took around 30 minutes to take effect.

Taylor said the buffalo belongs to Humboldt resident Brett Dawson, who owns some land in Bourbon County. He said the buffalo escaped by clearing a fence.

"These things are extremely agile," Taylor said. "They are capable of clearing a six-foot fence."

Dawson was not available for comment at press time.

The bison never acted violently, Taylor said, and no injuries or damage have been reported.

"It was not aggressive toward property or citizens," he said. "In fact, we darted it three times and I'd say I was up within 15 feet of it. It never was aggressive. It would actually respect fences when it came up on one. A lot of the time it would just ignore our presence."

Though the buffalo was first spotted on Saturday, Taylor said, it took time not only to learn what would be needed to bring the animal down, but also to obtain the proper equipment to do so. Taylor said several local animal specialists were instrumental in advising the sheriff's department on the doses of tranquilizer needed.

"We were trying to maintain it until we were able to obtain the equipment necessary to tranquilize it," Taylor said. "We were unfamiliar with the doses needed for this type of thing. Plus, we could only tranquilize it in an area where we could track it."

Taylor said the bison was difficult to track because of its speed and because it could go places, such as wooded areas, where vehicles could not follow.

"It covered more ground than we could keep up with," Taylor said.

After finally restraining the animal late Tuesday, Taylor said it was loaded into the bucket of a backhoe. It was then transported to Fort Scott Community College, where it received an antidote for the tranquilizer. Taylor said the bison was back on its feet and doing well before being loaded onto a trailer and taken back to Dawson's property.

Though no injuries occurred and this particular buffalo remained docile, Taylor said residents should remember to keep a safe distance from any future loose bison or any large animal.

"The community needs to remember that these are undomesticated animals," he said. "I know we had some people following it, trying to get pictures. That's fine, that's human nature. But they need to be careful."