Family ‘devastated and heartbroken’ as search continues for missing bison
Dozens of animals wandered off after someone cut fence
A family is continuing to search for dozens of their beloved bison herd that went missing last weekend.
According to Diane and Mark Pastoor, sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday morning someone trespassed on their property near Dalmeny and
They are now scared, exhausted, lost and some are hurt.
clipped 13 wires of the fence — enabling the 52 bison to escape their pens.
The anxiety the couple is feeling, Diane wrote in a social media post, “continues until we get them home, or at least the ones we find ...”
Since then, two groups have been located in nearby areas, say the Pastoors. This includes six bison cows and one baby calf.
Two of the bison have died and four adults and a baby are still at large.
The herd was made up of 52 bison, including a dozen spring babies and their mothers, four bulls and the remaining were pregnant cows.
“Bison do not respond like regular cows, so herding and trailering them is a special feat only done by skilled bison farmers and special equipment,” wrote Diane Pastoor in a social media post. “Our bison are used to only our farm and Mark and his husbandry skills. They are now scared, exhausted, lost and some are hurt.”
Pastoor says it will likely take weeks to find and bring home the remaining bison. In the meantime, she says, they will have trampled through fences, farmers’ crops, scaring themselves and scaring people since the bison are “confused and not safe in their home pasture.”
Pastoor says bison may not seem like pets to people, “but to us and especially Mark, they are his life.
“To say we are devastated and heartbroken as a family is an understatement.”