Oh, golly.

Although the tourists involved in this mess have not been named, luckily, what they thought was a good deed was actually a moment of stupidity.

When they came across a young bison in the USA’s Yellowstone National Park, the tourists insisted it looked cold and alone, so popped it into the back of their SUV.

They blatantly ignored park rules that warned visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from all wildlife, and 100 yards from bears and wolves.

The tourists then took the calf to a park facility. Rangers tried to rescue the situation, taking the animal back to where it was picked up, but they could not get it back into the herd after several tries.

The calf was ostracised by its herd and was found wandering around the car park.

This all happened the same day President Obama announced the bison as the United State’s national mammal. Tut tut.

Officials at Yellowstone National Park then decided that they would have to euthanise the calf:

The bison calf was later euthanised because it was abandoned and causing a dangerous situation by continually approaching people and cars along the roadway.

The visitors were fined $110 for touching a wild animal. Honestly, is that all its life is worth?

[source: independent]