• Outdoors Outdoors

Video of man cornering Yellowstone bison while holding baby sparks outrage online: 'Child endangerment'

All wildlife is unpredictable, and tourists should never approach or feed them.

All wildlife is unpredictable, and tourists should never approach or feed them.

Photo Credit: @touronsofyellowstone / Instagram

It's one thing for adults to endanger themselves by acting like a fool near wildlife.

It's another for an adult with a baby in their arms to corner a bison.

That's exactly what happened in another clip of outrageous behavior shared by Tourons of Yellowstone (@touronsofyellowstone) on Instagram.

The Aug. 8 video showed two adults standing at the corner of a building, and the one holding the baby seemed to be attempting to video or photograph the animal, which may have been grazing between the structure and what looked like a shed. A person with a leashed dog walked nearby.

"I hope someone called the police," one commenter said. "Child endangerment."

Another wrote: "With a toddler. Oatmeal for brains."

Bison are perhaps the most dangerous animal at Yellowstone National Park, having injured more people than any other wildlife. Visitors are advised by the National Park Service to stay at least 25 yards away from the beings and to turn around to avoid being too close and walk or run away.

"Approaching bison threatens them, and they may respond by bluff charging, head bobbing, pawing, bellowing, or snorting," the NPS states. "These are warning signs that you are too close and that a charge is imminent."

All wildlife is unpredictable, and tourists should never approach or feed them.

Bison are fast and agile. They can run 40 miles per hour and jump 6 feet in the air. Bulls can reach 2,200 pounds, while cows weigh in at 1,000.

The animal was named the national mammal of the United States in 2016 and is the largest land mammal in North America. Population figures once reached 30 million but dwindled to the hundreds by the 1870s because of hunting.

There are now about 360,000 bison on the continent, with 19 herds in 12 U.S. states. Only 31,000 are wild bison managed for conservation.

Bison have lived in what is now Yellowstone since prehistoric times — the only place in the country where this is true.

The child in this video seemed to know better than to approach the creature, writhing and reaching away as if trying to escape the clutches of the adult.

"Looks like the kid had more sense and didn't want to be there," one commenter wrote.

Another said: "First of all, the baby is a huge issue, I am blown away. People repeatedly ignore the rules every single day and this whole situation with the baby and cornering the bison is just over the top next level stupidity. There are rules for a reason."

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