Yellowstone euthanizes baby bison that tourists loaded into their car

Yellowstone National Park officials euthanized a bison calf after tourists put the newborn in their car and caused the animal to be rejected by its herd.

Rangers tried to reunite the newborn bison calf with its herd, according to the Casper Star Tribune, citing a Monday press release from Yellowstone. The efforts failed, and the calf was euthanized because it was abandoned and approaching people and cars.

Human interference can cause mothers to reject their offspring, the park said.

The two foreign tourists visiting Yellowstone last week tried to “save” the baby bison from the cold by putting the calf in their vehicle and trying to leave.

A park visitor told EastIdahoNews.com that she saw the tourists, a father and a son, pull up to a ranger station with the bison in their SUV, the Sacramento Bee reported.

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

Richardson, a teacher in Victor, Idaho, was chaperoning a fifth-grade field trip to the park in Montana last Monday when she saw the tourists, NBC News reported. She snapped a photo.

National Park Service rules forbid visitors from approaching within 25 yards of large animals.

“They didn’t care,” Rob Heusevelet, the father of one of the students on the field trip, told the East Idaho News. “They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold.”

The tourists were ticketed.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Yellowstone euthanizes baby bison that tourists loaded into their car."