The intertribal buffalo council (itbc) seeks to develop an indigenous knowledge (IK) report for buffalo with the shared knowledge of native nations that may help inform the U.S. Fish and wildlife…

The intertribal buffalo council (itbc) seeks to develop an indigenous knowledge (IK) report for buffalo with the shared knowledge of native nations that may help inform the U.S. Fish and wildlife service (USFWS) in the yellowstone bison species status assessment (SSA). Itbc will collect IK about buffalo from tribal knowledge holders whose tribes have an ancestral connection to yellowstone national park (YNP) and YNP buffalo today. Partners for this IK process are expected to be the tribes, knowledge holders, a trusted social scientist, and tribal colleges and universities. The objectives of this project will be to:1.complete an IK report for buffalo for the yellowstone bison SSA which includes but is not limited to:a.a story about the buffalob.buffalo habitat preference and movementc.changes in buffalo population size, age, SEX ratios, and herd sizes, as well as age distributiond.buffalo foraging behaviore. The effect buffalo have on the landscape and ecosystemf.historical and emerging threats to buffalo and their habitatg.for tribes that have received buffalo from the bison conservation transfer program, we would like to obtain knowledge of:i.how buffalo behave after transferii.differences between buffalo from the transfer program and non-transfer program BUFFALO2.develop a one-pager based on the report with summary information that will be made available to the general public.objective 1 will be accomplished by interviewing tribal knowledge holders about buffalo IK and recording that information in a database. The buffalo IK will then be summarized into a publicly available IK report. Objective 2 will be accomplished by taking the main points from the buffalo IK report and condensing them into a one-page format.