Yellowstone Buffalo Hit Hard by Winter

Extreme winter weather may decimate the buffalo in Yellowstone National Park, a herd already being killed by humans in record numbers once the animals leave the safety of the park. Deep snow that came early to the park froze into a thick crust that the buffalo can’t get through to graze. They are surviving on bark and pine needles. “That’s starvation food,” said National Park Service scientist Mary Meagher. Meagher is not predicting extinction, but she said Yellowstone’s changing nature means the herd will get much smaller this year.