Update: Roaming buffalo update: 32 back and 43 still on the loose near Sharon Springs

SHARON SPRINGS, N.Y. -- A Schoharie County bison farmer whose herd of 75 bison got loose last month after one of his bulls busted down a gate is still struggling to recover them. Only 11 have been returned to the farm at this point.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has said the animals are considered livestock, and thus private property. Hunting or shooting them if they appear on one’s land is not allowed.

“The bison are not considered wildlife so no DEC permits or licenses apply,” DEC told NYup.com in a written statement. “Their destruction without the permission of the owner could trigger other legal consequences. Anyone seeing a bison on their property should immediately call law enforcement.”

Brian Grubb, owner of Bison Island farm in Sharon Springs in Schoharie County, said this morning the bison have been located but he’s only successfully recovered 11 of his animals. He said if something doesn’t happen soon in bringing them all back, he’s considering “tranquilizing them.”

He said the animals could be put to sleep and then a temporary corral could be constructed around them. They then could be woken up and herded into trailers to bring them back.

Adult bison are huge, with males reaching up to 2,500 pounds and the females ranging up to 2,000 pounds, according to Dave Weakley, of Barefoot Buffalo Farm in Taberg in Lewis County.

Last week, the Albany Times Union reported the Grubb’s herd of 30 adult buffalo and 45 calves had traveled some 10 miles from the farm, crossing the Schoharie County line in Otsego County. They stopped to graze at local hayfields in the area.

Grubb said the nearly dozen animals that were recovered were successfully called and drawn by apples into a corralled area. The rest of the bison, which have formed two separate herds, haven’t been so easy to capture.

Grubb, who has been working with State Police and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to find and bring the animals home, has urged people not to fly drones above the herd, or to chase them on ATVs or dirt bikes.

The DEC said no state laws have been broken by Grubb’s bison being loose and that the DEC and state Department of Agriculture and Markets is continuing “to monitor public safety and the owner’s efforts to return the herd back to the farm.”

State Police have urged onlookers not to approach the herd, noting they are not tame and can be unpredictable.