BISMARCK, N.D. - A judge in Bismarck has dropped most of the charges against a ranching company accused of neglecting its buffalo near the North Dakota-South Dakota border.
The Wilder Ranch had faced 99 charges of allowing livestock to run at large. Judge Bruce Romanick dismissed all but one of them. He ruled that only one charge is involved if a herd of buffalo gets out of a pasture.
The judge is allowing a separate charge of animal neglect to go forward. He refused a request by ranch attorney David Bliss to dismiss the case.
The Wilder Ranch covers 35,000 acres in North Dakota and South Dakota. Sioux County State's Attorney John Gosbee says hundreds of buffalo trampled fences last winter and went to neighboring pastures looking for food.
Eight neighboring ranchers have filed damage claims seeking more than $60,000.
Ranch owner Maurice Wilder, of Clearwater, Fla., has blamed hunters for leaving his gates open and said he has trouble finding good help.
