Yellowstone tourists put bison calf in car because they’re worried it’s cold

[Teh One Who Knocks]

East Idaho News


http://i.imgur.com/JVoWD36.jpg

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — We’ve heard a lot about tourists trying to touch wildlife at Yellowstone National Park but this story takes personal encounters with animals a bit further.

Karen Richardson of Victor, Idaho, was one of several parents chaperoning a group of fifth-graders on a field trip to Yellowstone this week.

Richardson says on Monday, as students were being taught at Lamar Buffalo Ranch, a father and son pulled up at the ranger station with a bison calf in their SUV.

“They were demanding to speak with a ranger,” Richardson tells EastIdahoNews.com. “They were seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying.”

Rob Heusevelet, a father of a student, told the men to remove the bison from their car and warned they could be in trouble for having the animal.

“They didn’t care,” Heusevelet says. “They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold.”

Law enforcement rangers were called and the father-and-son tourists, who were from another country, were ticketed.

Heusevelet says the rangers followed the pair back to where they had picked up the bison, and the animal was released.

Yellowstone visitors are not allowed to approach wildlife and are to stay at least 25 yards away from large animals, according to the National Park Service website.

The school group returned from their trip Friday, and Richardson posted a photo of the bison on Facebook with the caption:

Dear tourists: the bison calf is not cold and it is not lost. PUT IT BACK!

http://i.imgur.com/NlznUjg.jpg

EastIdahoNews.com has reached out to Yellowstone authorities and has yet to hear back, but there is no doubt the National Park Service would agree with that statement.

[Pony]

:doh:

[Goofy]

:rofl:

[RBP]

wow. :lol:

:dunce:

[MrsM]

Not trying to justify what this guy did - however if the mother bison was around he would have been in a lot of trouble - further, if the baby bison was healthy there is no way that 1) he could have caught it and 2) that it would just stand there in the back of the SUV.

I agree that this was a VERY stupid thing to do - but I think that there is much more to this story than some dumb tourist thought the animal was cold and therefore took it the ranger station

Just my :2cents:

[RBP]

Not trying to justify what this guy did - however if the mother bison was around he would have been in a lot of trouble - further, if the baby bison was healthy there is no way that 1) he could have caught it and 2) that it would just stand there in the back of the SUV.

I agree that this was a VERY stupid thing to do - but I think that there is much more to this story than some dumb tourist thought the animal was cold and therefore took it the ranger station

Just my :2cents:

Hmmmm, you may be right. The same news source did a follow up to say the calf had to be euthanized, citing a National Parks pres release, but I can't find the source of that.


Last week in Yellowstone National Park, visitors were cited for placing a newborn bison calf in their vehicle and transporting it to a park facility because of their misplaced concern for the animal’s welfare. In terms of human safety, this was a dangerous activity because adult animals are very protective of their young and will act aggressively to defend them. In addition, interference by people can cause mothers to reject their offspring. In this case, park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the newborn bison calf with the herd. These efforts failed. The bison calf was later euthanized because it was abandoned and causing a dangerous situation by continually approaching people and cars along the roadway.

That sounds like bullshit.

[MrsM]

Hmmmm, you may be right. The same news source did a follow up to say the calf had to be euthanized, citing a National Parks pres release, but I can't find the source of that.



That sounds like bullshit.

thanks for the update - it sounds like BS to me too. Also it's odd that everyone is screaming that let nature be and the whole circle of life argument - however then justifying the euthanasia of the animal

However - even with all that said - it was still a very stupid thing to do :)

[Pony]

Baby bison euthanized after Yellowstone tourists put it in car


By Crimesider Staff CBS News May 16, 2016, 2:57 PM

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - A newborn bison calf had to be put down after tourists placed the animal in their vehicle last week, according to authorities at Yellowstone National Park.

The tourists were ticketed last week after officials spotted the calf in the back of their SUV. They allegedly told park officials that they placed the calf in their car because they feared it was getting cold.

The National Park Service said in a statement Monday that the tourists' decision likely cost the bison its life.

"Interference by people can cause mothers to reject their offspring. In this case, park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the newborn bison calf with the herd. These efforts failed," the National Park Service said.

The bison calf was later euthanized, according to officials.

"It was abandoned and causing a dangerous situation by continually approaching people and cars along the roadway," the National Park Service said.

[deebakes]

:yum: