Now that fire crews have some sort of a handle on the Legion Lake Fire, Custer State Park staff are evaluating any wildlife casualties.
Officials say they’re having trouble locating half of the burro herd. They believe the burro’s did not survive the extreme fire growth from Tuesday night.
According to officials, a majority of the bison herd is accounted for.
Scott Jacobson is a Public Information Officer for the Legion Lake Fire. He says some of the buffalo were singed by the fire.
“So, what’s happening now is the Custer State Park staff is rounding up the heard, they’re pushing them down to the corrals and they’re going to get them down there and vaccinated," Jacobson says. "A lot of the buffalo will walk away from the fire, then once the fire goes through they’ll actually walk out into the black and cause some burning of the hooves. So, there’s some concern with infections and things like that.”
Officials say a majority of pronghorn, elk and deer herds are located and safe.
Almost 54,000 acres have burned because of the fire, which is at 50 percent containment.