Yellowstone bison reach new home on Montana reservation, could be used to start new herds

FILE - In this April 24, 2012 file photo, a herd of bison roam on the Fort Peck Reservation near Poplar, Mont. Almost a decade after they were first captured from Yellowstone National Park, a group of wild bison that has spent years in limbo after government officials could find no place to relocate the animals were due to be shipped from a ranch near Bozeman Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014 for placement on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this June 19, 2014, file photo, bison graze near a stream in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Almost a decade after they were first captured from Yellowstone National Park, a group of wild bison that has spent years in limbo after government officials could find no place to relocate the animals were due to be shipped from a ranch near Bozeman Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014 for placement on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. (AP Photo/Robert Graves, File) (The Associated Press)

BILLINGS, Mont. – A group of wild bison relocated from Yellowstone National Park has arrived at northeastern Montana's Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

Fort Peck Fish and Game Director Robert Magnan said two tractor trailers carrying almost 100 bison were being unloaded on the reservation Thursday.

A third shipment of several dozen more animals was due Friday.

The bison initially will be kept in a 140-acre pen, before moving to a 13,000-acre pasture later this month. They join about 48 Yellowstone bison previously obtained by Fort Peck's Assiniboine and Sioux tribes.

Magnan says the tribes hope to expand the herd to about 300 animals. He says the bison will be used for food, in cultural ceremonies and as seed stock to help create new herds elsewhere.