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Baby Bison Placed in Van by Yellowstone Tourists Is Euthanized

Eyder Peralta
NPR
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A bison calf at Yellowstone National Park was picked up by tourists who thought it was cold. The animal was later rejected by its mother and euthanized. (Karen Richardson via Twitter)

A story that started off as viral catnip highlighting the thoughtlessness of tourists took a dark turn on Monday.

The National Park Service announced that a bison calf, which was put in the back of a van by tourists at Yellowstone National Park who thought it looked cold, had to be euthanized.

The story of the tourists went viral over the weekend after a picture of the baby bison in the van was posted online.

East Idaho News reported:

"[Karen Richardson of Victor, who posted the picture,] 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.' "

The tourists were ticketed, but today the Park Service said that following the incident, the baby bison was rejected by its family.

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"Interference by people can cause mothers to reject their offspring," the Park Service wrote in a statement. "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."

The bison, by the way, just became the U.S. national mammal.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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