Against many citizens’ wishes, Paynes Prairie will no longer have living, breeding herds of bison and horses.
About half of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park’s bison, and possibly its horses, will be removed from the park next winter.
The final plan for removing the animals was released by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection last week, about six months after the plan was announced.
In previous interviews, department staff said the animals will be removed due to concerns of inbreeding and worries that the animals will escape into residential areas.
The final plan differs slightly from the draft plan, which went up against public scrutiny in a citizen meeting on Nov. 30.
The plan recommends removing all male bison from the herd of about 60 bison, leaving about 30 females and sterilized male calves to continue roaming the prairie. This is a change from the draft plan, which stated only 15 female bison would stay in the prairie.
The male horses, which are part of a herd of about 30 Florida cracker horses, will either be removed or sterilized and left to roam.
The Florida Cracker Cattle herd will remain at Hickory Ranch, the park’s cattle ranch.
The plan states that the animals will be removed but does not say exactly how or who will take them.
Park manager David Jowers refused to comment.
Kirstin Lock, public information officer for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said in an email that the details of the removal have not been determined, but the next step is to draft a request for offers.
It says the “first preference” is to put the bison in an animal sanctuary. If sanctuaries will not take the males, then the park will find other solutions.
She said the park will screen everyone who applies to take the animals to ensure that the bison are treated humanely.
To remove the animals, the plan states the park will need to hire a contractor to round them up.
Some protesters of the plan are concerned that the bison will be killed for their meat, an issue which is not specifically addressed in the plan. Others are worried the park won’t have as many visitors if the animals are removed.
“You can bet that 70 to 80 percent of those people are there to see the bison, the horses and the birds,” said Chuck Littlewood, a wildlife photographer who visits the park weekly.
