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Bison migrating back to Yellowstone National Park get help from volunteers digging tunnels through snow

ynp bison tunnels.jpg
Posted at 12:48 PM, Mar 16, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-16 14:48:20-04

Some bison migrating back into Yellowstone National Park are getting a little help this year.

Volunteers with the Buffalo Field Campaign, with help from the Montana Department of Transportation, dug out tunnels for the bison.

West Yellowstone has received more than five feet of snow this winter, and road plowing has created giant berms of snow along Highway 191 that make travel for the bison very difficult. According to the Buffalo Field Campaign, 19 bison have been struck and killed on area highways this winter, including 13 that died in one semi-truck crash last December.

Now, the bison can use the dug-out corridors to travel quickly across 191 instead of trudging down the road.

The tunnels have been strategically placed to follow the herd's preferred route back into the park.

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