Stranded in a wet wasteland

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This article was published 24/04/2009 (6008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Bison producer Len Epp wants his herd to have a home where no water roams.

Epp said about 230 of his 1,900-strong herd have been standing in knee-deep water for more than a week after ice jams in drainage ditches swamped his land near Balmoral.

Epp, who is also president of the Manitoba Bison Association, said the water is beginning to recede, but very slowly. About five acres has been above water for the bison, but that’s only a small portion of his fields.

"If they’re in there for another week, they’re in big trouble," Epp said on Thursday.

"It’s not just going in there and getting behind them and moving them. If we let them go with this water, who knows where they would go. We took the lesser of two evils.

"We’ll just have to see how tough they are."

The herd of bison could be seen tramping through the water on Thursday, their lower bodies wet.

Epp said the Rural Municipality of Rockwood quickly sent heavy machinery out to smash the ice jams but the overland flooding had already occurred.

Epp said he knows at least two animals have succumbed to the conditions. His financial losses continue to mount because of increasing weight loss in the herd.

"We’ve been able to bring hay in on a flatbed where they can pick the hay off the vehicle," he said.

"They haven’t gone without feed since this began."

Epp said he specifically put the animals in that field because it hadn’t flooded before.

"But within 24 hours, four sections of land were under water," he said.

"At one point — we call it an ocean — the ocean was probably three- to three-and-a-half miles wide and four miles long. It took over everything."

Wayne Lees, the province’s chief veterinary officer, said their bison specialist has already been out to check the herd.

"He has assured me there doesn’t appear to be an animal-welfare issue now," Lees said.

"If it goes on they may have to cut fence and block roads to move them. We never like to see animals trapped by flood water, but they have some feed available."

Lees said in other flood-stricken areas of the province, commercial producers did an effective job getting their livestock to high and dry ground.

But Lees said if there are people who need help with animals they can call 945-8000.

 

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca