European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 27, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes. Page 3 need of scram you dirty rats Paula Ward Dinesh l intend to play rut find Anuw with a problem a Lafayette sch Oil to Boston. The facility s janitor Holdi a rut trap filled with Poison and a Siyi exp i is Trifi his displeasure Ever the. School s rodent Tiu Hoesl the stench from decaying rats sent a do ii Slu a cries Dame sick this Pitt week. Yellowstone deaths a Boon to bears . Reid the Yellowstone National Park Wyo. It morning in Bear country and breakfast is a Bonanza. Stirred from their. Snowy Denis by the warm rays of he Brilliant Spring Sun the Black beats an d Hump backed Ijiri a Ulici Yellowstone Are jus now.  heir Long Winter s Nap. Scrambling about the Hills and looking for a win in eat. The food Supply in Litis Posi Dan eng stage i Cru Cial to the bears Gumval. This year food is copiously available for bears and other meat enters Here because so Many Elk and Bison fell. Dead in. Inc Snow during the harsh Winter of 1989. Those Bison carcasses Are terrific news for our hears Park biologist John Verlcy said , Patching grim reports on television about inc unusually High death Rales among Elk and Bisan. Have evidently concluded. That the Winter Jusi past was an in Tro menial disaster a Yellowstone. Hundreds of angry looters have poured in from animal Lowers and the Park s chief  received a death threat. Lull scientists at the Park and elsewhere said those re inns were seriously misleading. They Sec the Winter of 1989 As an Overall Boon 10 wildlife. We had High Morti Ihl in Elk and Bison species Hal Are abundant and full quickly recover Varley said. Those deaths will make a feeding Bonanza for eagles and grizzly bears two species thai arc endangered in inc Park and throughout the lower is states no biologist or co log isl would say there s a Down Sid thai Vellow Sion had burned to the ground void Joan an Elmo. The Park s information director. Now they re All Back Here to do Soncs saying Wail it was t nearly thai Bat 1 " she said West had the same sen Saiaonai Simplis lie reporting on the Ari Imol deaths. Those same Cam Era will probably be Back this summer saving Well Here Are still lots of animals alive Here " Winter is always Atic of death in this harsh earner of the Rock mountains Bui ii Winter of 1989, with a Large Snow pack and sometimes severe cold look higher loll on some animal species than has been seen in inc Park in several years. Since Many of the animal a calms occurred along the Park s Northern tier he Only part of  is easily accessible m Winter they were readily visible to people in my near the Park and to visiting journalists pictures of Bony Elk starving akm the shoulder of a Highway and of Hunters shooting sluggish Bison in snowy Ikus  Park made for dra Matic stories. Varley the Park s chief of research cited reasons for this year s High mortality rates a series of mild Winters with smaller than usual Winter kill had inflated the population of  herds. We had a lot of geriatric Elk thai were ready to die he said. Last summer s drought reduced the forage the animals needed in he full to fallen up for Winter the wildfires burned a Good Deal of ground cover further reducing forage thai left the animals hungrier than usual his win Ler. Displaying total disrespect for the Cal Boundary lines that humans have drawn on maps hundreds of Elk and Bison ranged outside the Park s Northern Bor Der looking for food. As a result Many Star Vine Elk died in and around the gel Way Community of Gardiner mont., in full View of townspeople tourists and visiting reporters. Of her Elk can still be seen gnawing bark Oil the Trees ind sleeping carefully around Rusty Coffee cans and broken cinder blocks in a Liti Rcd lol he Lind Lac Toiven movie theater where people have placed Bales Fhay to feed them. Because Yellowstone Bison carry the disease Brucel Losis Ulriich can infect cattle. Montana for years has issued permits to Hunters to kill Bison leaving inc Park. In the past a couple of do in Bison have been shot each Hirtler. This Jear 57f of the huge animals were killed usually at close Range. Two weeks ago Man i Ana slopped the Hunt panty because of the Onset of Spring and partly because of the Public oui re. 1 eople who were angered by All that might be an Grier if they knew a Park o Lio is saw u coming and did nothing to prevent in. The greater yellow Stone Pas fire ecological assessment com posed of scientists around the country predicted the High 1989 Wimer kill in a report  fall Hul the Seirn tills recommended and  officials agreed Agassi supplemental feeding o use the Elk and Bison. Letting nature Lake its  cruel is the heart of the philosophy of natural regulation prac tired by managers at All National Parks. Varley said scientists Are certain hat the deaths this Winter will have no significant Impact on the Elk or Bison Popula Tion a View that made ii easier for Park officials in practice such natural regulation. Park official esl Imale iiiiil.,800 Bison died in ihc1park this Winter. That leaves about 1,800 survivors Inich Park including almost All mat ing age females. Once close to extinction Hison Are abundant now with their .u.s. Population haying grown to about 100,000.  from Hunting and Siat vation this Winter May reach 5.000 much higher Ihnn in any recent Winter. Hut Aboul 30,000 Elk arc in inc Park and about 6,000 calves will be born this Spring though not ajl of  survive. Elk Are so common throughput  slates that Uherc is no estimate of hair total  contrast inc Griz by be in is an endangered Spe cies about 200 of the bears remain in the Park.  have been in  mid november. Having burned body fal All Winter for warmth they must find adequate food supplies As they Wake up the Way nature works one animal s demise is an other s breakfast Varley said. The carcass Ofa dead Bison is made to order Tor a Bear coming Oul of the  Elk carcasses provide meat for countless animals including Bald and Golden eagles Ravens fines and to jots. Hut the Bison is the Bear s private preserve. The Bear is the Only animal with claws Strong enough to rip through inc thick Buffalo hide to gel to the neat that dead Bison is a like a 2,000-Pound Steak in inc fro in food compartment waning for a Bear to come along and remove the wrapping Varley said Paul Schullery a Bear expert on the Park s research staff reported thai adequate meal supplies now will assure int ens lies and Black bears Are Strong and healthy by inc mating season in june. Thai should mean Good tillers of  in the Spring of 1930, with positive Long term implications folic or populations when we get these angry i cutlers about the doing Elk Varley said i always want to remind people that this is not Yolo Sione National zoo. It s not safari land. In s a place where fires Burn and animals die. It s a natural ecosystem. And when we Sec our endangered species feasting on these Elk the Only conclusion a scientist can in run