River crossing turns perilous for Yellowstone bison calves

Yellowstone National Park abounds with wildlife and visitors typically leave with wonderful memories involving critters they had encountered.

But visitors who spend enough time in the park also witness heart-wrenching scenes that leave them wondering why nature can seem so cruel.

In late May, I pulled over west of Lamar Valley and watched from a distance as a bison herd began to cross the Lamar River.

The river was shallow but with deep, swift-running channels. The opposite bank was steep with loose dirt and the crossing seemed like a perilous proposition for newborn calves.

Within seconds, one calf was swept downstream and around a bend, leaving mom in a panic. She ran down the middle of the river, staying on a shallow. bar, and ultimately accessed the bank to continue her search.

As this occurred, another calf was swept about 40 yards downstream, but regained its footing and ultimately crossed the river with mom’s guidance.

As the herd continued up and over the bank, the bison that lost her calf paced the area for several minutes before abandoning her search to rejoin the herd.

I was with other tourists about 500 yards away. We could not see all of the action but concluded that only the one calf had been lost, likely to be preyed upon or scavenged by wolves, coyotes, or bears.

I was so far away, with a 400-millimeter lens, that I didn’t even look at my images until recently. So I cropped the accompanying shots to help illustrate this story.

The scene revealed to us that a season of critter births is also a period when many newborn animals succumb to the elements or predation.

Remarkably, a day later I witnessed a pronghorn birth from almost the same spot, while also watching a momma badger excavate a den for her kits.