The 54 bison that roam Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and a small sliver of Red Mountain Open Space wallow, gallop and graze like a typical herd.

But the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd is anything but typical.

The bison are one of the last genetically pure herds in the country, bred with Yellowstone genetics and through research techniques — one that triumphed over brucellosis and a second that is being hailed as a possible savior for species near extinction.

Three years after the bison were released onto public land, they are thriving on acres that, similar to a timeshare, also house cattle during some months. The herd has grown from 10 to 54 with babies that have been born both through assisted reproduction and fully natural processes; the oldest offspring born on public land are now 2 years old. Someday, the herd could grow to 100 bison.

“I hoped the herd would grow and they would be healthy -— and they are,” said Jennifer Barfield, assistant professor at Colorado State University and scientific research lead on the project.

“I’m really happy with the way they settled in.”

Thriving and sharing

The herd started on Colorado State University’s Foothills Campus, located just off Overland Trail on the west edge of Fort Collins through a partnership between the university and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Research from that team led to technology that would allow scientists, in a laboratory, to essentially clean the deadly and devastating brucellosis from reproductive matter, and then implant it into healthy bison. (The USDA has since left the partnership.)

Using artificial insemination with cleaned reproductive matter from Yellowstone bison — one of the last pools of pure genetics — researchers built the herd that three years ago on National Bison Day, Nov. 1, 2015, were released onto 1,000 acres across Soapstone and Red Mountain, protected lands that border each other. Red Mountain is owned and operated by Larimer County, while Soapstone is Fort Collins, both partners in the release.

Since then, the pasture area has been expanded to 2,700 acres with the new land solely on Soapstone, and the team from CSU work with city of Fort Collins Natural Areas staff to monitor the bison. They count them every day and, from inside a vehicle using binoculars, check for injuries or wounds.

They also monitor the pregnant females to make sure they are healthy. While they try to make sure the animals lives are as natural as possible, medical resources are available if needed.

“We realize how valuable they are,” said Barfield. “We’re ready to provide medical intervention if necessary.”

When the herd was established, researchers said they hoped it would become a genetic pool for other herds, and it has. So far, one bull calf was sent to the Minnesota Zoo and one bull to the The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, a reserve in Illinois. Barfield hopes that will continue, perhaps even as part of a national initiative to bring bison back to Native American lands.

“We’re hoping to contribute to some of these,” she said, “where it makes sense.”

Living off the land

The first year the bison grazed the land — announced as the first time in 100 years pure bison would live on that public land where they once thrived naturally — the team gave them supplemental feed during the winter.

But they really didn’t need it, according to Barfield.

“They are living off the land,” she said, adding that the team does provide supplemental minerals that the bison need as well as water through a spring and wells on the land. Otherwise, the animals would travel to find those, possibly further than the pasture in which researchers hope to keep them.

After all, a small fence would not keep the 1,500- to 2,500-pound animals inside if they decided to go in search of water, Barfield explained. They could jump over or go through the wire fences, which were designed to not disrupt the views or the wildlife migration that occurs on that property.

Elk can still go over the fence and pronghorn under, so it does not hinder them or other wildlife from moving across the land. And the bison stay within their area because they have enough space and resources, Barfield said.

“It’s about making sure they have everything they need,” she said, “and keeping them happy.”

Expanding research

The brucellosis technology allowed for the herd to expand, but the research didn’t stop there.

Barfield’s team then expanded to in vitro fertilization, and in April, the university announced that a 10-month-old calf was the first test tube bison born.

About nine months earlier, nine females were implanted with eggs and sperm from Yellowstone bison that were fertilized in a lab, frozen for a few months, and then implanted into healthy potential mother bison.

Only one took, and the calf known as IVF-1 was born.

This breakthrough was heralded as an advance in the field, including by a conservation research specialist at the San Diego Zoo that is working to preserve the near-extinct northern white rhino.

Not many live animals have been born through this means. This bison calf, though, did not make it through her first year. The team found her remains at the bottom of a 30-foot embankment. She was healthy and in good body condition at the time of death, and a necropsy showed no medical reason that she died, according to Barfield.

“We’re not sure if she fell off of it and got injured,” said Barfield. “There’s no way to know what happened.”

This past August, researchers repeated their efforts, implanting 12 embryos into 10 females; two of the batches are twinned as was IVF-1.

Barfield hopes these will take and more babies will be born.

Land sharing

If born onto Soapstone Prairie, the bison will at times be grazing on land that at other times is home to cattle. This cooperative project is proving how conservation and agriculture can share the land and both thrive, Barfield said.

When the city of Fort Collins and CSU teams added another 1,700 acres on Soapstone, they chose land that is used during some months of the year for cattle herds. They decided to share the land, sort of like a time share, where the cattle graze some months and the bison other. They never share the land at the same time, keeping them separated and genetically pure.

This is another shared use of Soapstone Prairie, a natural area that includes trails in some areas and agriculture in others as well as historic sites and wildlife corridors. All these uses coexist, and the land share just adds one more layer which, like the herd itself, Barfield homes will serve as a model for the future.

“This is a place where people care about nature. They care about conservation and the natural system, and they also want to use the land and work the land,” said Barfield. “It’s going to be critical that we find ways to share the land that are sometimes out of the box.”

“It can done.”

Her statement could stand as the motto for this very unique herd.

Pamela Johnson: 970-699-5405, johnsonp@reporter-herald.com