What started as an exercise in stupidity has come to a pitiful end. On May 9, a man and his son were visiting Yellowstone National Park from another country when they came across a bison calf. A school field trip chaperone named Karen Richardson told East Idaho News the two believed the calf was freezing to death, so they loaded the animal into their vehicle, drove to a nearby ranger station, and requested action be taken to “save” the young animal.

“They were demanding to speak with a ranger,” Richardson said. When Rob Heusevelet approached them and pointed out their wrongdoing, the two refused to back down from their indefensible position.

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

Temperature for the area on May 9: 50° Fahrenheit, with a low of 27°.

The two were able to speak to a ranger — several, in fact. The rangers issued them a ticket and told them to drive the calf back to where they had found it. The rangers didn’t take any chances, reportedly following their vehicle back to the abduction site and verifying the calf was released.

Had it stopped there, I would have chocked it up as the all-too-common stupidity coming out of Yellowstone lately: selfies with bison, attempted petting of the animals, up-close videos with the living tourist attractions, and the like that have seemingly hit record highs in 2016. But that was before the second half of the story broke.

You see, when the calf was eventually freed from its mid-size prison it didn’t find its mother and continue on with life as usual. CBS affiliate KREM2 reported that attempts were made to reunite the calf with its mother and herd, but, likely due to the man stink clinging to its fur, the animal was shunned by the rest of its kind.

Park officials later had to euthanize the calf to prevent it from causing a dangerous situation. The young bison was approaching vehicles, presenting a threat to itself and others.

Call it an international mix-up or what have you, but the law is clear. The National Park Service makes it plain for visitors on what is expected from them when in the park, giving visitors a pamphlet with the proper distances to be kept between themselves and the wildlife. Per its website (the emphasis being theirs):

Do not approach wildlife, no matter how tame or calm they appear. Always obey instructions from park staff on scene. You must stay at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves and at least 25 yards (23 m) away from all other large animals – bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes. Do not feed any animals. It harms them and it is illegal.

Short of giving the calf a Milky Way, the two visitors broke every rule listed. The distances were even converted into the metric system … no excuses!

The inescapable irony of it all is the “rescue” came on the very same day President Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law, making the bison the United States’ first national mammal.

Albert Einstein is rumored to have said, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” Sadly, the average person’s understanding of wildlife backs this statement up.

– TJP