A Canadian man cited by Yellowstone National Park rangers for transporting a bison calf to the Buffalo Ranch in the park was worried it would end up as "road kill" if he did nothing, according to the investigating ranger. In the end the calf wound up dead just the same, as its mother abandoned it and it "was continually approaching visitors and vehicles" and so rangers put it down.

The citation filed with the U.S. District Court office at Mammoth Hot Springs in the park identified the man as Shamash Kassam, of Quebec. According to the form, Kassam and a traveling companion encountered the calf on the park road in the Lamar Valley in the evening of May 9.

"Kassam stated that they had been on the road near the river a couple of miles east of the Buffalo Ranch and a baby bison was in the middle of the road, wet and shivering, and would not leave their vehicle for 20 minutes while they waited to see if any bison would come back for the bison calf," wrote the ranger, whose name on the citation was illegible. "After 20 minutes they still could not see any bison anywhere in the vicinity, the bison calf would not leave their vehicle, appearing to be seeking warmth from the engine, and Kassam stated he decided to pick up the bison calf, or it would have been road kill, and drive to the Buffalo Ranch and call law enforcement for assistance."

The ranger noted that he told the Canadian that park wildlife are not to be touched, disturbed or fed, "and that by removing the calf he was preventing the mother from locating it and possibly altering its ability to survive in the wild."

According to the citation, the calf was returned to a herd in the general vicinity of where Kassam said he had found it.

"I observed a mother bison with another calf, lick the bison calf and then walk towards the Lamar River with the calf following closely," the ranger wrote.

Kassam was cited for picking up and disturbing the calf, and fined $110 plus a processing fee of $25.