Bison Calf Euthanized After Tourists' Misguided 'Help'

Two well-meaning but misguided tourists at Yellowstone tried to save a baby bison they thought was in trouble. Instead, they may have led to its death. Last week, the father and son loaded the calf into their SUV and brought it to rangers, saying they thought the bison looked cold and was in danger of freezing to death, reports the East Idaho News. Rangers tried to return the calf to the herd, but those efforts failed, and the animal "also kept repeatedly approaching vehicles along the roadway," per Yellowstone Insider. Eventually, park officials euthanized the calf.

“In recent weeks, visitors in the park have been engaging in inappropriate, dangerous, and illegal behavior with wildlife," says a park statement. "These actions endanger people and have now resulted in the death of a newborn bison calf." The father and son who transported the calf are from another, unspecified, country, and they received a ticket. "They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold," says a father who was chaperoning an unrelated school trip. (More Yellowstone National Park stories.)