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LIVING LOCAL
Vol. 141, No. 14 Section B Wednesday, May 26, 2021
LOCAL MAN'S DREAM FULFILLED
Buffalo roaming in Burke County
Dan and Kelly Wiersma hope to expose groups to a bit of what Georgia looked like 300 years ago with this herd of buffaloes. Kelly said her husband is passionate about restoring the state’s natural wildlife.
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
A common question asked of
Dan Wiersma is how he got so
interested in buffaloes that he
actually keeps a herd of them on
his 600-acre property in Burke
County.
It doesn’t take long to un
derstand that he is living out
a dream that he envisioned as
a young man. He answers the
question with excitement in his
voice and a glimmer in his eyes.
“I had been out west a few
times and everywhere I went
there were buffaloes,” he said.
“So, that probably stuck in my
head.”
The dream stayed there for
a while. Approximately three
decades ago, he contemplated
the purchase of a large piece
of land, even though he knew
he didn’t have the funds to
purchase it. He could still see
a large roaming herd of the
shaggy bovines in his mind.
“This could be it. If I buy this,
we could fence it and have buf
faloes,” he said with childlike
enthusiasm as he recollected
the story.
As fate would have it, the sale
of the property fell through.
Life moved forward, but the
dream never left Wiersma’s
imagination. Fifteen years later,
he purchased the land, he now
calls home.
“As soon as we started negoti
ating, I thought, ‘oh, this is it, if
I buy this I am going to fence it
in and have buffaloes,’” he said.
Wiersma set out on a massive
16-year project to provide the
fencing the herd requires. His
wife, Kelly, said her husband
has a passion for restoring Geor
gia’s native wildlife.
Buffalo, deer and elk are na
tive to the Peach State. Wiersma
has researched the history of
buffaloes, including diaries of
Spanish foot soldiers exploring
the area. He joyfully shares his
knowledge.
“The buffaloes were in herds
of 50 to 100,” Wiersma said
and added that some research
theorizes that the population of
the shaggy bovines initially in
creased as the number of Native
American Indians decreased.
“The English came 100 years
later, and they are easy pick
ings with their muskets, and of
course the Indians got muskets
and between the two, they
wiped them out.”
According to the National
Park Service website, bison
(also known as buffalo) in the
United States were hunted al
most to extinction. After tribes
acquired horses in the 1600s,
they could travel farther to find
bison and hunt the animals more
easily.
The U.S. Army held a cam
paign in the late 1800s to elimi
nate bison as a way to control
tribes that depended on them.
Yellowstone National Park was
the only place in the contiguous
48 states where wild, free-rang
ing bison persisted into the 20th
century, according to website.
The way Wiersma purchased
his first buffaloes is a story he
shares as well. As a forester, he
was working in Elbert County
about 12 years ago when he
crossed over a piece of property
containing a herd.
“I’m trying to get rid of
them,” the buffalo farmer said
according to Wiersma. “I can’t
sell them.”
Wiersma jumped on the op
portunity to purchase eight
calves and a bull.
“We called him Arnold,” Wi
ersma said of the bull. “He was
massive like Arnold Schwar
zenegger.”
Raising buffaloes has been a
learning venture for Wiersma.
The animals are highly suscepti
ble to worms. Their intelligence
exceeds that of a cow. One time
some of the herd escaped and it
took him three weeks to catch
them. Their coat absorbs light,
making it difficult to see them in
the dark. They are not necessar
ily people friendly and prefer a
large amount of personal space.
He has clocked them running at
40 mph.
“I went through a learning
curve,” he said and added that
a year ago he purchased another
Dan Wiersma has clocked his buffaloes running 40 mph. The females shown here weigh less than the bulls who average 2000 lbs. each.
42 buffaloes from Florida.
Wiersma is expecting 10 to
15 new calves this season. His
two bulls, weighing in at around
2,000 pounds each, keep to
themselves until mating season.
In July, they show up and begin
to court the females.
“They spend quality time with
each lady,” he said. “No one-
night stands.”
Now Wiersma’s dream has
evolved into a goal. He eventu
ally wants church and school
groups to witness a bit of what
Georgia looked like 300 years
ago. In addition to 100 buf
faloes, he is thinking about a
herd of elks.
“I have a covered wagon that
I pull with a tractor that I can fit
20-25 people,” he said. “I like
how far we have come, it has
taken me longer than I thought
it would, but everything takes
longer than I think it will.”
Wiersma is a member of the
National Bison Association
whose mission is to bring to
gether stakeholders to celebrate
the heritage of American bison,
to educate and to create a sus
tainable future for the industry.
According to the National
Park Service website, “Bison
are not listed as a threatened
or endangered species. Ap
proximately 30,000 bison live
in public and private herds in
North America; they are man
aged for conservation goals.
Approximately 400,000 bison
are raised as livestock however,
wild bison are rare.”