ON YOUR SIDE: Missouri Department of Conservation warns of impersonator claiming 500 Buffalo are being shipped to you

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Missouri Department of Conservation wants to make people aware of impersonators.

Someone is sending mail to homes in Missouri saying they are making the land around your home a game preserve, and over 500 Buffalo are being shipped to you. The piece of mail claims 550 buffalo are being sent to your home at 4 a.m. on June 29.

Francis Skalicky with the MDC said if this were true, which it is not, you would have been told this well in advance.

“We wouldn’t do something like this that this isn’t feasible this type of introduction isn’t feasible,” said Skalicky. “It’s just an annoyance.”

Skalicky said an unknown number of Missourians got this in the mail

“We know that landowners in Franklin and Wayne County have received it,” said Skalicky. “We don’t know if it’s went anywhere else. Obviously, it’s bogus.”

He said scams and impersonators are not new to them.

“This is just the latest example of what happens periodically with our agency with other agencies where somebody puts out some fake news,” said Skalicky.

But this was a little different.

“Because 500 Plus bison onto the landscape is a huge introduction,” said Skalicky. “This is not feasible on the current 21st Century Missouri landscape.”

Skalicky said he wishes people would spend time promoting their conservation efforts rather than a hoax.

He said we don’t have room for buffalo or bison here in Missouri, and they won’t be reintroducing them.

“It’s not gonna happen,” said Skalicky, “So not today? Not tomorrow, not next year.”

Skalisky said if you get anything similar like this, please call your local office for the Missouri Department of Conservation. They will straighten out all the facts.

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

Copyright 2023 KY3. All rights reserved.