Yellowstone rangers look for visitor who pushed newborn bison onto roadway

Yellowstone park rangers are looking for a man whose interaction with a newborn bison led to the animal’s death, they say.

The national park released an image of the encounter Saturday, May 20, in the Lamar Valley. While a herd of bison were crossing the Lamar River next to the highway, a park visitor approached the bison calf and pushed it up to the road, the accompanying press release said.

After the human contact, the calf was abandoned by the other bison. “Park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the calf with the herd. These efforts failed,” the statement said.

Because the calf was “causing a hazardous situation” by approaching cars and people, park staff killed the animal. The statement includes a link to a webpage titled Why Yellowstone Doesn’t Rescue Wildlife.

Yellowstone regulations require that visitors stay 100 yards from bears or wolves and 25 yards from other wildlife.

The park asked that anyone with information about the man in the photo contact the tip line at 307-344-2132 or YELL_Tip@nps.gov.

Source: Orange County Register