Karen Richardson had no idea things would get so far out of control when she snapped a picture of a most baffling scene—a wild baby bison standing in the back of an SUV.
Richardson was chaperoning a group of fifth-graders on a field trip in Yellowstone National Park on May 9, when two tourists pulled in with their SUV, wanting to speak with a ranger.
The tourists, a father and a son, had a bison calf loaded in their vehicle.
The tourists had picked up the baby bison because “they were seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying,” Richardson told eastidahonews.com.
Another adult accompanying Richardson and the group of children told the tourists to get the bison out of their car and warned them they could be in trouble for having it.
Richardson took a picture of the bison and later posted it on Facebook.
“Dear Tourists: The Bison calf is not cold and it is not lost. PUT IT BACK! (yes, the park rangers took care of the situation),” Richardson wrote in her Facebook post.
Little did she know what would ensue.
Soon enough, her post was picked up by multiple media outlets.
The tourists were slapped with a ticket and the calf returned to the wilderness.
Lesson learned. End of story. It seemed like just another one of those mind-boggling stories shared on Facebook.
But it wasn’t.
A week later, the National Park Service issued a news release stating the calf had to be euthanized because, despite multiple attempts, it was rejected by the herd. Interference by people can cause mothers to reject their offspring, according to the service. But, it is not uncommon for bison, especially young mothers, to lose or abandon their calves.
Media followed up on the story, including Epoch Times, but this time the general public was even less amused.
Many commenters seemed angry, some questioned why the calf was euthanized, and others just blamed the tourists for picking it up in the first place.
Park authorities explained the calf might have been ill and they don’t have quarantine facilities or capacity to care for the animal.
