900 Yellowstone bison to be relocated or slaughtered this winter

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Authorities have agreed to allow up to 900 Yellowstone National Park bison to be hunted, slaughtered or quarantined this winter in a program to prevent these animals from spreading a dangerous disease to livestock.

Another 200 bison, out of the more than 5,000 in the park, could be captured or hunted by late winter if those numbers are met, federal, tribal and state officials agreed in a meeting Wednesday.

Each winter, bison tend to leave Yellowstone and head north to Montan, raising fears that they will infect cattle with brucellosis,

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The disease can be transmitted to people

, but it is rare in the United States.

Moose have spread it to cattle, but there are no documented cases of bison that have spread it to cattle in the wild, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.

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Yellowstone currently has about 5,450 bison, the highest number in recent counts, according to park biologist Chris Geremia.

A bison in Gardiner, Montana.

File PhotoJanie Osborne / AP

Hunting between 600 and 900 specimens this winter should cause the population to stabilize or decrease slightly, but to increase again to reach current figures when spring begins, explained those responsible for the park.

Various Native American tribes and the state of Montana separately manage bison hunting outside of Yellowstone National Park.