GRAYLING — A tagged bison had to be taken from an interior Alaska village by helicopter after it seemed to be stranded there.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that on Feb. 23, Bull 123 was anesthetized so he could be flown out of Grayling, located on the Yukon River.
Department of Fish and Game biologist Tom Seaton blindfolded the bison, collected a number of samples and administered medications before loading Bull 123 onto a tarp-sling. The sling was sewn shut to keep the bison in and strung under a helicopter, which traveled at about 60 mph for 22 miles to a sedge meadow where another lone bull of the same age had been feeding.
The young bull had been hanging around Grayling since early December despite the community’s attempts to chase him out.
