sounds like an onion article...

but it's for real...

Washington -- The American bison, once hunted almost to extinction, is now so revered in the United States that its image graces the seal of the Interior Department, where it stands proudly in the shadow of mountains.

Still, a senior political appointee at Interior apparently thought that the real thing might look better stuffed and mounted -- so he shot one.

David Smith, a hunter who until last Friday was deputy assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, shot and killed a bison grazing at a friend's ranch in Texas in December 2004.

He had the hoofs made into bookends and kept the skull, wrapped in taxidermy packaging, in the garage of his home.

Smith broke no laws by shooting the semi-domesticated animal in the head with a rifle from 50 yards away.

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