Yellowstone tourists put bison calf in car because they’re worried it’s cold 
 
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 UPDATE: The National Park Service says the bison calf was rejected by its herd and had to be euthanized. Read more here. 
 
 ORIGINAL STORY: 
 
 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — We’ve heard a lot about tourists trying to touch wildlife at Yellowstone National Park but this story takes personal encounters with animals a bit further. 
 
 Karen Richardson of Victor, Idaho, was one of several parents chaperoning a group of fifth-graders on a field trip to Yellowstone this week. 
 
 Richardson says on Monday, as students were being taught at Lamar Buffalo Ranch, a father and son pulled up at the ranger station with a bison calf in their SUV. 
 
 “They were demanding to speak with a ranger,” Richardson tells EastIdahoNews.com. “They were seriously worried that the calf was freezing and dying.” 
 
 Rob Heusevelet, a father of a student, told the men to remove the bison from their car and warned they could be in trouble for having the animal. 
 
 “They didn’t care,” Heusevelet says. “They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold.” 
 
 RELATED: YELLOWSTONE VISITOR CAUGHT ON CAMERA PETTING BISON 
 
 Law enforcement rangers were called and the father-and-son tourists, who were from another country, were ticketed. 
 
 Heusevelet says the rangers followed the pair back to where they had picked up the bison, and the animal was released. 
 
 Yellowstone visitors are not allowed to approach wildlife and are to stay at least 25 yards away from large animals, according to the National Park Service website. 
 
 The school group returned from their trip Friday, and Richardson posted a photo of the bison on Facebook with the caption: 
 
 Dear tourists: the bison calf is not cold and it is not lost. PUT IT BACK! 
 
 EastIdahoNews.com has reached out to Yellowstone authorities and has yet to hear back, but there is no doubt the National Park Service would agree with that statement. 
 
 READ: DEPUTIES INVESTIGATING SHOOTING DEATH OF CALF (WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO) 

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 Yellowstone National Park has released new information regarding the bison calf picked up by a pair of tourists last week. Unfortunately, the incident did not end well. 
 
 Last week, a father-and-son duo picked up a bison calf and brought it to the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, asking to speak with a ranger. They said they were concerned the animal would freeze to death. Rangers later ticketed the pair and took the bison into custody, hoping to release it back into the herd. 
 
 Unfortunately, efforts to reintroduce the calf into the herd failed repeatedly. It also kept repeatedly approaching vehicles along the roadway. The bison calf was later euthanized by Park officials. 
 
 The Park is using this as an opportunity to remind visitors to keep their distance from wildlife, both for their own safety and (especially) for the safety of the animals. 
 
 “In recent weeks, visitors in the park have been engaging in inappropriate, dangerous, and illegal behavior with wildlife. These actions endanger people and have now resulted in the death of a newborn bison calf,” spokesperson Morgan Warthin said in a press release. 
 
 The release refers to a video shot a few weeks ago depicting a visitor petting a lounging bison in the Old Faithful area. Police later reported the visitor in question was under investigation. It also refers to the five goring incidents that occurred last year, when visitors (knowingly or otherwise) strayed too close to bison. 
 
 Visitors are reminded to stay at least 25 yards away from wildlife such as bison, elk, and deer. Further, they are reminded to stay 100 yards away from animals like bears and wolves. Visitors who disregard these regulations could face fines, injury, and possibly death. 
 
 It’s also possible for the animals to be injured and even killed—just like that bison calf.
– Two well-meaning but misguided tourists at Yellowstone tried to save a baby bison they thought was in trouble. Instead, they may have led to its death. Last week, the father and son loaded the calf into their SUV and brought it to rangers, saying they thought the bison looked cold and was in danger of freezing to death, reports the East Idaho News. Rangers tried to return the calf to the herd, but those efforts failed, and the animal "also kept repeatedly approaching vehicles along the roadway," per Yellowstone Insider. Eventually, park officials euthanized the calf. “In recent weeks, visitors in the park have been engaging in inappropriate, dangerous, and illegal behavior with wildlife," says a park statement. "These actions endanger people and have now resulted in the death of a newborn bison calf." The father and son who transported the calf are from another, unspecified, country, and they received a ticket. "They sincerely thought they were doing a service and helping that calf by trying to save it from the cold," says a father who was chaperoning an unrelated school trip.