Baby Bison Put to Death After Misguided ‘Rescue’ Attempt

Here's the sad ending to a story that Sean and Bethany talked about this morning:

A father and son were visiting Yellowstone National Park last week, and spotted a baby bison.

Temperatures in the park were down in the 30's and they thought the bison was going to freeze.  So they grabbed him, put him in their SUV, and drove over to a ranger station.

The rangers had to explain that bison can handle cold temperatures, and gave them a ticket for interfering with wildlife.

Well, the rangers tried to re-incorporate the bison calf back into the herd, and the other bisons rejected it.  The baby bison then tried to approach several more cars and people.  The threat of danger to the park goers and to the bison became to great and the decision was made to euthanize the animal.

The park service issued a strong statement -

"In recent weeks, visitors in the park have been engaging in inappropriate, dangerous and illegal behavior with wildlife...  Approaching wild animals can drastically affect their well-being and, in this case, their survival. ... The safety of these animals, as well as human safety, depends on everyone using good judgment."