Bison dies after falling in “almost boiling water” by tourists at Yellowstone

A bison have died after it seemed to fall into a hot source at Yellowstone National Park.

Park visitors looked at the great prismatic spring near Old Faithful on June 21, when the mammal seemed to stumble into the hot spring. The researcher in responsibility at Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, Michael Poland, confirmed to NBC News that the temperature there can reach 192 degrees Fahrenheit.

Witness Louise Howard, who visited the area from Colorado, told CBS news That she “thought it was an amazing photo opportunity” when two bison was close to spring. But she told the outlet that one bison then went into a shallow part, jumped out and stumbled later at the edge, before falling in.

“As hard as it tried, it couldn’t come out,” Howard said, leaving on social media – where she shared pictures of the trial – that the bison tried “her best” to get to safety. “I have a video of the one coming to take their last breath, but it’s a tough watch,” she wrote.

A spokesman for Yellowstone National Park did not immediately respond to people’s request for comment on Saturday, June 28.

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According to Poland, which examined pictures of the event, the bison seemed to come too close to the spring before it stumbled and later fell into a warmer part of grand prismatic and died “fairly quickly.”

He told NBC News that the animal was probably boiling to death. (Yellowstone’s boiling point is 200 degrees Fahrenheit.)

“This bison body is basically in a pool with almost boiling water, and … that boiling water will eat away at the organic material, tissues and eventually there will only be some legs (residues),” said Poland.

The researcher added that an animal that falls into hot sources is not entirely unusual, and it is “possible” the bison fell from the crust surrounding the pool. “But I can’t say for sure,” he told NBC News.

Katie Hirtzel, who saw Bison’s remains in the feathers hours later, told USA today that the scene was “quiet” and “eerie.”

“I couldn’t really say what it was at first,” she said. “I honestly thought the whole experience was so beautiful and inspiring to be able to see the raw power just in front of my face.”

The tourist, who camped with her husband and their 13-year-old son, added that Bison’s remains were there the following morning. As Hirtzel explained, she hopes that Rangers will leave the animal body where the mammal died, as part of showing “the circle of life.”

“My family and everyone else who was there were kind of taking at the moment and realized that it was something really special that we went on,” she told CBS News.

National Park Service Rangers are likely to leave the animal to decay naturally, Poland told USA today. Over time, the water will break down the animal’s flesh and tissue and just leave his skeleton behind, he added.

“We know that animals are not immune to making mistakes,” Poland said. “This probably happens more often than we would know because many times this will not be observed … that this happened at the Grand Prismatic Right during the summer when people watch is a unique event.”

He also repeated, Per CBS News, that guests at Yellowstone are encouraged to follow rules and stay on boardwalks and explain that “the tracks are there (for a reason).”

“We are in their environment,” Poland said about animals. “It’s a wild place. The landscape is also wild.”