Refuge retrieves bison remains from private property

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - The two bison that were left on private property after being euthanized by the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, were retrieved and taken off the property in early October. This puts an end to a little more than a week long saga that was marred with perceived misunderstandings.

The incident that left freshly euthanized bison on the Folkert property took place in late September.

David Folkert’s mother who owns the property sent him a video on Sept. 24, showing the two Bison on their land. Shortly after, two Wildlife Refuge workers made contact with the mother.

“Shortly after, two refuge employees knocked on her door inquiring about two buffaloes,” Folkert said. “She told them they passed through and were possibly on the property.”

However, the next day Folkert said he discovered the remains of the bison in a dried out creek bed on the property.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a statement the day after KSWO’s original story aired and said that two members of the refuge’s core American Plains bison herd moved off the refuge several weeks prior.

The statement then goes on to say the Bison Management Plan was followed which called for the bison to be humanely euthanized off refuge.

According to the statement, the reason why the bison were euthanized was to limit the risk of introducing diseases to the core refuge herd.

Folkert said the workers never asked permission before conducting the euthanasia operation on the property.

This caused a lot of emotions to be felt by not only the Folkert family, but also the Comanche Nation.

7News spoke with an official with the Comanche Nation’s Historic Preservation Office, Martina Minthorn, who said she was saddened that the bison were killed and then left to rot on the man’s property with no recourse. She added that their sudden death did not give the Comanche Nation time to plan a proper ceremony for the bison.

On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Refuge went back on to the Folkert property with permission to remove what remained of the Bison.

Prior to the retrieval of the bison, a phone call took place between Folkert and Amber Zimmerman, the deputy director of the Refuge.

During the call, both sides seemed to want this incident to be fully rectified. Zimmerman stated that the two workers who performed the euthanasia did not know they were on the Folkert property and once they realized they were, they left.

Zimmerman also told Folkert that they talked to his mother the day after the bison were killed and offered to get the bison, to which his mother said no.

Folkert told Zimmerman that he left his number with them for a reason and that his mother was too upset to really talk to them.

During the phone call, Zimmerman said the reason why it took them so long to retrieve the bison was because the media got involved and that forced them to get permission by the Department of Interiors before they could reach out directly to Folkert.

Zimmerman stated that the refuge valued their relationship with the local tribes and that they hope to avoid something like this happening again in the future.