Montana’s governor on Tuesday barred Yellowstone buffalo exposed to a livestock disease from entering his state, effectively granting a temporary reprieve for the 217 buffalo targeted for slaughter.

The order by Governor Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, cited worries about brucellosis, a bacterial infection that can cause cows to miscarry, to temporarily delay government plans to ship buffalo exposed to the disease to slaughterhouses in Montana.

Schweitzer’s move is the latest twist in a weeks-long saga over buffalo, or bison, that sought to escape the deep snows of Yellowstone Park in search of food in nearby Montana lowlands.

Government wranglers have corralled 525 of the straying bison, 217 of which have tested positive for exposure to brucellosis and were slated to be killed.