Baby Bison Euthanized After Tourists Put It In Trunk For Warmth

America's newest national mammal is not having the best start to its reign.

A baby bison had to be euthanized after tourists put the animal in the trunk of their SUV because they thought it was too cold, park officials said Monday.

The incident is the latest in a string of ill-advised behavior toward bison that the National Park Service is working to curb.

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On Monday, May 9 — the same day that President Obama named the bison the national mammal of the United States — a father and son visiting Yellowstone from out of the country saw a baby bison and put it in the back of their SUV, Karen Richardson, one of the parents on the field trip, told the East Idaho News.

The tourists apparently thought the calf was going to die in the cold.

“They were demanding to speak with a ranger,” Richardson told the East Idaho News. “They were seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying.”

• Read the rest of their account here.

The National Park Service said in its release that this was extremely dangerous for two reasons.

First, adult bison can be very protective of their young and "will act aggressively to defend them." And second, mothers can reject their offspring if they have been interfered with by humans.

Indeed, park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite this calf with its herd to no avail. Park officials felt this left them with little choice.

"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 park service release said.

In prior weeks, visitors have filmed themselves "within an arm's length of an adult bison" and taken pictures with bison "at extremely unsafe and illegal distances," the park service said.

Yellowstone's regulations say that visitors are required stay at least 100 feet away from bears and wolves and 25 feet away from all other wildlife, including bison.

Image via Wikimedia