Tuesday, 29 April 2025

Flying Dutchman

 

In 1924, fourteen bison were transported to Catalina Island, 22 miles off the coast of southern California. The bison were meant to be extras in the movie, “The Vanishing American” with Richard Dix and Noah Beery. (Gary Cooper was also in this film, but he, like the bison, was just an uncredited extra.) If any scenes were filmed with the animals, they never made it into the movie. There was no room in the studio’s budget to return the bison to the mainland, so they stayed on the island. Over the years, the herd grew to over 600 – too many for the small island’s fragile ecosystem. The Catalina Island Conservancy took charge of the bison in the 1970’s. Their goal is to keep the herd at a manageable size. Some were sold at auction; others were shipped to South Dakota. The remaining bison get birth control injections. The last bison calf born on Catalina Island was in 2013.


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