Tourist pleads guilty to moving Yellowstone baby bison from river: ‘It was begging for help’

The Hawaiian tourist charged over the botched baby bison rescue in Yellowstone National Park last month has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour count.

The newborn calf was euthanised by the Wyoming park staff shortly after Clifford Waters’s encounter with the animal.

When Mr Waters found the baby bison, it had become separated from its mother as the herd crossed the Lamar River in the northeastern corner of Yellowstone. He then pushed the struggling calf up from the river and onto the roadway, according to a statement by the National Park Service (NPS).

MR Waters’ ill-advised rescue efforts ultimately led to the bison being rejected by its herd and, consequently, euthanised after it caused a “hazardous situation” by following cars and visitors, the NPS revealed.

Mr Waters on Wednesday 31 May pleaded guilty to one count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening, or intentionally disturbing wildlife in a federal court.

According to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming, Mr Waters was charged a $500 fine, a $500 community service payment to Yellowstone Forever Wildlife Protection Fund, a $30 special assessment, and a $10 processing fee ($1,040).

In an interview with The New York Times on Friday (2 June), Mr Waters said he believed the penalty was fair, adding the fine “could have been a lot worse”.

Recounting the incident, which occurred on 20 May, the 78-year-old told the publication the newborn calf’s umbilical cord was still attached and it was “begging for help to get out” of the water after “it had been swept downstream”.

Explaining the “act of compassion” to rescue the bison, he said: “‘If I can get him out of the water, maybe someone will come back and save him.

“The calf was drowning, and it had absolutely no chance if I hadn’t done that.”

He told the news outlet he heard Yellowstone officials were looking for a man, in his 40s or 50s, who pushed the bison, on a Montana radio station.

Mr Waters then turned himself in at a ranger station.

After the animal was put down, NPS shared a statement explaining its decision to euthanise the calf instead of sending it to a sanctuary or looking after it.

Responding to criticism on social media, park authorities said: “We made the choice we did not because we are lazy, uncaring, or inexpert in our understanding of bison biology. We made the choice we did because national parks preserve natural processes. By this we mean undomesticated wildlife and the ecosystems they both depend on and contribute to.

“Every day in national parks, some animals die so that others may live. In fact, as many as 25 per cent of the bison calves born this spring will die, but those deaths will benefit other animals by feeding everything from bears and wolves to birds and insects.

“Allowing this cycle of life to play out aligns most closely with the stewardship responsibility entrusted to us by the American people,” the statement read.

After news of the ill-advised rescue and subsequent euthanisation broke, Yellowstone issued a statement reminding park visitors that approaching wild animals “can drastically affect their well-being and, in this case, their survival”.