Lehigh County to transfer four male bison to national preservation group

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Have you herd? (Couldn’t resist, continue reading.)

Four surplus male bison from Lehigh Valley Zoo will be donated to the Wildlife Restoration Foundation for transfer to a member of the InterTribal Buffalo Council in New York.

Lehigh County commissioners passed an ordinance approving the transfer Wednesday.

The transfer will occur this year or in the first quarter of 2026 from the Trexler Nature Preserve at the zoo, according to Rick Molchany, Lehigh County senior operations executive.

“We have six males and eight females,” said Commissioner Antonio Pineda, who co-sponsored the bill. “We recently lost our dominant male in the bison herd, so now there’s competition for which will be the new dominant male.

“We’re trying to manage them in two separate herds, with one male in each.”

Relocated bison 'have thrived'

A federally chartered Native American organization, the ITBC is a collection of 80 tribes in 20 states that facilitates the management of more than 20,000 buffalo over 32 million acres of tribal lands.

The bison population has been restored to nearly a million of those acres.

A buffalo herd typically has only one dominant male, as the hierarchy is linear, with the strongest bull at the top.

The top bull dominates all other males, who then follow a similar linear ranking based on age and size.

While there can be a constant struggle and shifting dynamics between other males, only one bull holds the highest position of dominance.

“The [ITBC] will find a place for them to live the rest of their lives,” Pineda said of the four donated bison. “This is all for the health of our herd.”

Molchany said the zoo donated five bison to the organization in 2021.

"The bison we’ve relocated have thrived," he said. “The zoo executes the medical and transportation requirements to make sure the bison are safe during the move.”