Ranchers try to round up 125 escaped bison in Nebraska

BERTRAND, Neb. (AP) — Ranchers, cowboys, law enforcement and others were scrambling Wednesday to try to round up some 125 head of bison that escaped from a feedlot in south-central Nebraska and had already wreaked havoc on rural roads in the area.

The bison got loose in Phelps County around 5 a.m. Wednesday, station KRVN reported. By late morning, five bison had been hit and killed by vehicles in three separate crashes on rural roads near Bertrand, the Phelps County Sheriff’s Office told the Grand Island Independent. A fourth vehicle hit a bison that already had been hit. No people were injured in the crashes.

Sheriff Gene Samuelson said about 25 of the bison had roamed some 10 miles southeast to a pasture near Atlanta.

Rounding up the animals is no easy feat, said Sheriff’s Lt. Jamie Tilson.

“This time of the year buffalo don’t round up easily,” Tilson said. “Apparently they cover a lot of ground in just a few hours.”