Going to Yellowstone? Don't do this...

[d3500ram]

I do not know what to think other than misguided animal rights activists perhaps.

2 Yellowstone visitors reportedly take bison calf for a ride in SUV


Two tourists took a bison calf for a ride in an SUV this week during a visit to Yellowstone National Park, EastIdahoeNews.com reports.

Park rangers ticketed the pair, a man and his son who were visiting from another country, after they pulled up to a ranger station Monday with the animal in the vehicle, according to the news website. They apparently thought the calf was cold.

“They were demanding to speak with a ranger,” Karen Richardson told the news website. “They were seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying.”

Richardson, of Victor, Idaho, was on a field trip with a group of fifth-graders and other parents.

She snapped a photo of the animal in the SUV and posted it on Facebook, EastIdahoNews.com reported.

“Dear tourists: the bison calf is not cold and it is not lost. PUT IT BACK,” her post said.

Another parent on the field trip with Richardson, Rob Heusevelt, told EastIdahoNews.com it didn't faze the duo they were breaking the law. Yellowstone visitors aren’t supposed to approach wildlife or get too close to large animals.

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

He said the bison calf was driven back to where it was found and released.

Last month, a Yellowstone visitor approached a bison lounging on the grass and reached out to pet the giant animal, a scene caught on video.

"She's totally antagonizing it. Where are the rangers?" a shocked witness is heard saying in the video.

[NYCgrrl]

The calf was killed recently:

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-bison-yellowstone-20160516-snap-htmlstory.html

I wonder if the bison had already been rejected prior to it's car ride?
Sounds like it's behavior was uncharacteristic.

[Tom_Barb]

How many know They kill them anyway.

[4x4van]

Idiots

[d3500ram]

^^-- I think that reality should be told to the do-gooders and moreover, the do-gooders should have to witness it...

...along with the citations.

[goat_rancher]

Just for general info. The calf was not accepted back to the herd and was euthanized. The bison don't need help, except in case of poaching.. They have survived for a long time on their own. The process of natural selection eliminates the weak and strengthens the species.

[dodge_guy]

Maybe they should also put up signs that say leave the people alone that are playing with the dangerous wildlife. Nature will "handle" it!

[Tango__AE7UI]

Sometimes I think situations like this are Mother Nature's way of thinning out the gene pool.

[hotpepperkid]

People don't realize that a 2000 lb + buffalo can go from 0 to 30 in about 4 seconds

[westernrvparkow]

This particular calf apparently had lost it's mother, either to death at birth or predation. The calf was returned to the area where it was picked up, but it did not reunite with a cow. It was so young, apparently it did not yet have a fear of humans and it repeatedly approached tourists. Since it could not nurse it's health quickly deteriorated and was humannely destroyed. Sad as this is, it does appear the calf would not have survived even if the tourists hadn't taken it for a spin. It would have been killed by predators or died of starvation if left alone. Sometimes nature offers only sad outcomes.

[Army11Bravo]

dodge guy wrote:

Army11Bravo wrote:
I am a supervisor at a 911 center that borders Glacier National Park. We tell them we will take care of the animal and send a deputy to put it down humanely with a single shot.

I'de love to be standing next to them to see the expression on thier face when you tell them that!:E

We don't tell them we are going to put the animal down. We tell them they can continue on and we will send someone to take care of the animal. They will think the animal was rehabilitated. Ignorance is bliss.

[d3500ram]

Murphsmom wrote:
...

D3500ram...I'm betting you would be watching that mama moose a lot more closely than the black bear.

Most certainly. I will give deference to both, but more to the moose.

I remember a hair raising experience a few years back whilst black power hunting that I almost got between a mama moose and her babe. I was heading back to camp late in the day and glassed them ahead of me in the direction of which I was heading. I was about 50 yards to the calf to my half-right and mom was about 100 yard to my left. They both knew I was there before I ever saw them. The wee 'un was slowly heading towards me out of curiosity and mama was staring straight at me. I slowly turned back and took and extra 2 hours to get back to camp. Did not want to get between the two that closely.

Now my moose viewing activities are more enjoyed from my deck. Neat thing that I have never seen before occurred yesterday: I have a patch of grass where I cut back the brush- it is fed by a spring and I imagine the grass is sweet to game. There is a pecking order in that mama was there first and then after the babe was allowed to nosh. But even more surprising is that the ground there is probably soft and when mama was grazing, she actually knelt down. Her hind legs were upright but she was kinda' crawling along on her front legs as she ate the grass! Never saw that before.

[dodge_guy]

Army11Bravo wrote:
I am a supervisor at a 911 center that borders Glacier National Park. We tell them we will take care of the animal and send a deputy to put it down humanely with a single shot.

I'de love to be standing next to them to see the expression on thier face when you tell them that!:E

[Army11Bravo]

I am a supervisor at a 911 center that borders Glacier National Park. One of the most memorable calls we received was from a woman reporting a moose that she thought looked hungry. She called numerous times hoping Fish & Game would go feed the animal. Of course it was a fully grown cow moose, and we had to tell her it got so big by foraging for food effectively.

Every summer when two million tourists drive through our area we get dozens of callers who see injured deer on the side of the road. Typically, these dumb deer run into the side of a passing car and are mortally wounded. People that have no understanding of wild animals often ask us to send a veterinarian to pick up the animal and rehabilitate it. We tell them we will take care of the animal and send a deputy to put it down humanely with a single shot.

[spoon059]

irishtom29 wrote:
Well, I reckon 150 years ago had an Indian encountered that buffalo calf it would've gone into the pot rather than an SUV, and no outrage either. Yellowstone Park is as artificial as Disneyland.

Probably would have let the baby grow up and be a big enough meal to make it worthwhile.

[spoon059]

gbopp wrote:
People from another country who were sincere about helping the animal were ticketed?

I realize the laws need to be enforced but, sometimes a warning with an explanation is more effective.

Last time I was there, signs were posted EVERYWHERE and in multiple languages about leaving animals alone. Sincere concerns aside, they disrupted wildlife. Would you go on a safari in Africa and put a baby lion in your air conditioned car because it looks warm? Same argument, likely less signs spread across the savanna though...