Greenspace: Conservation involves herd work

Three bison cows from Minneopa State Park in Mankato temporarily joined the herd at Zollman Zoo. 7:47 pm, Dec. 9, 2020 × Some guest grazers are gracing Zollman Zoo. Three bison cows from Minneopa State Park in Mankato arrived in November as part of a program to increase the population of the animals in the state. This year, Zollman Zoo joined the Minnesota Bison Conservation Herd. The Olmsted County zoo, in Byron, is the fourth organization to join the herd, which has about 130 head of bison throughout the state. Zollman Zoo has had bison since the mid-1980s. However, the zoo had to wait for recent genetic test results to join Blue Mounds State Park Luverne, Minneopa State Park and the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley as part of the statewide herd initiative.