In Yellowstone National Park, US, two tourists stumbled upon a baby bison and while the day had lows of 4˚C and highs of 10˚C, they thought the calf looked extremely cold, so they put it in their car and took it to a ranger station.
Their actions may have come from a well-intended place, but yesterday the park released a statement that what the pair did actually had the opposite effect – the calf had to be euthanised. As a result of the “interference by people”, its mother had rejected it.
“Park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the newborn bison calf with the herd. These efforts failed,” the park said.
“The bison calf was later euthanised because it was abandoned and causing a dangerous situation by continually approaching people and cars along the roadway.”
The sad death of the young bison comes in a wave of misplaced concern and obsessions with people feeding, taking selfies with and trying to help wildlife.
The park emphasised that these kind of interactions can be dangerous, illegal and detrimental to the natural order of things. The park also rejected recent viral videos of people approaching bison at risky close distances.
An Idaho resident who saw the two tourists told Idaho News they were “demanding to speak with a ranger” and were worried the calf was dying because it was so cold.
Another witness said he warned them that their attempted rescue might not go down well with park regulations, but “they didn’t care,” he said. “They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold.”
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