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NBC News
a day ago
- Science
- NBC News
Yellowstone bison dies after stumbling into near-boiling waters of popular hot spring
A bison in Yellowstone National Park appeared to stumble into the scalding water of Grand Prismatic Spring, causing its death as tourists looked on during the park's busiest season. The bison fell into the hot spring at Midway Geyser Basin near Old Faithful early Saturday, a spokesperson for Yellowstone said. It's not entirely clear exactly how or why the animal ended up in the hot spring, said Michael Poland, the scientist-in-charge at Yellowstone Volcano Observatory and a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey. But after having seen video of the accident, Poland said it looked like the bison got too close, stumbled further into the water and thrashed around before it fell into an even hotter part of Grand Prismatic, causing its death. Poland said the bison died "fairly quickly," and he dispelled rumors that the spring's water is highly acidic, causing the animal to burn. Most hot springs are actually neutral, Poland said, but the temperatures are so extreme that the bison most likely boiled to death. Grand Prismatic is about 300 feet wide, and its temperatures reach 192 degrees Fahrenheit, Poland said. Boiling point at Yellowstone, because of its high altitude, is 200 degrees Fahrenheit. "This bison carcass is basically sitting in a pool of nearly boiling water, and ... that boiling water will eat away at the organic material, the tissues, and eventually there will just be some bone" leftover, he said. It's not the most uncommon of occurrences, Poland said. Often, animals will walk along the edges of hot springs. They can fall in because the crust surrounding the pool is thin and can break with enough weight. "It's possible something like that happened," he said. "Perhaps a little shelf that [the bison] was standing on collapsed and that exposed [it] to more hot water." Poland added: "But I can't say for sure." He noted that he has never heard of that happening at Grand Prismatic before. Scientists know it occurs at least from time to time, though, because animal skeletons can be found at hot springs around the park, many of which are in the backcountry, away from tourist activity, Poland said. What makes this case unique is that the bison died in Yellowstone's largest and most tourist-populated spring during the summer busy season. Katie Hirtzel was visiting Yellowstone National Park and witnessed the bison's death, she said on Facebook. She said watching the episode was "incredibly powerful and moving." "It was amazing to witness raw nature and the circle of life in front of our eyes like that," Hirtzel said. "It is going to be interesting to see how the park decides to move forward as scavengers are drawn to such a populated area." Poland said he sees it as a cautionary tale for humans visiting the park. He urged visitors to stay on the boardwalks — which are there for a reason — and not get too close. "It's amazing to go and visit these places in Yellowstone. They are spectacular," he said. "But this is why it's so important to stay on the boardwalks."
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Heart wrenching: Bison falls to death into Yellowstone National Park's hot spring
1 2 Recently, a video from the famous Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. is going viral on social media. The video, which was shot in the month of June by some tourists, shows a huge bison being swallowed by a scalding hot spring in the park. It all happened in front of the tourists who couldn't do anything to save the animal. The horrifying incident is a stark reminder of the power of the nature. As per officials, the bison wandered into the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is a part of the national park. The incident took place on the morning of June 21 and was captured by the onlookers. The video doing round on social media shows the bison struggling to get out before slipping into the waters and disappearing behind the steam. Hours later, the remains of the bison was seen resting in the spring. Mike Poland, the scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory with the U.S. Geological Survey, said that the scalding hot water of the springs will take its toll on the bison's remains. He furter said that the park rangers will leave the bison to decay naturally. Poland informed that it's note yet clear how and why bison ended up in the hot spring. But after seeing the video, he said it looked like the animal got too close, lost the balance and fell into a hot geyser. Explaining about the geysers, he said that most hot springs are actually neutral, however the temperatures are of the water is extremely height that the bison most likely boiled to death. However, it is not the first time that such an incedent had happened here. A number of animals fall victim to Yellowstone, but it is a rare sight. The incident is also a reminder to visitors, he said: 'Stay safely on the boardwalks and marked trails to avoid serious injury or death.' About Yellowstone National Park America's first national park, Yellowstone, was established in 1872. It is an iconic natural UNESCO wonder in Wyoming, with parts touching Montana and Idaho states as well. The park is mostly famous for its geothermal wonders which includes the famous Old Faithful geyser. The park is also a natural home to a range of wildlife, including bison, elk, wolves, and grizzly bears. The park attracts millions of visitors, photographers, wildlife lovers and nature enthusiasts every year from across the globe.
NBC News
2 days ago
- Climate
- NBC News
Bison dies after appearing to fall into popular Yellowstone hot spring
A bison in Yellowstone National Park appeared to stumble into the steaming hot waters of Grand Prismatic Spring, causing its death as tourists looked on during the park's busiest season. The bison fell into the hot spring at Midway Geyer Basin near Old Faithful early Saturday, a spokesperson for Yellowstone confirmed to NBC News. It's not entirely clear exactly how or why the bison ended up in the hot spring, said Michael Poland, the scientist-in-charge at Yellowstone Volcano Observatory and a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey. But after observing video of the accident, Poland said it looked like the bison got too close to the spring, stumbled further into the scalding water and then appeared to thrash around before falling into an even hotter part of Grand Prismatic, causing its death. Poland said the bison died "fairly quickly," and dispelled rumors that the spring's water is highly acidic, causing the animal to burn. Most hot springs are actually neutral, Poland explained, but the temperatures are so extreme that the bison likely boiled to its own death. Grand Prismatic is about 300 feet wide and its temperatures reach 192 degrees Fahrenheit, Poland said. Boiling point at Yellowstone, because of its high altitude, is 200 degrees Fahrenheit. "This bison carcass is basically sitting in a pool of nearly boiling water, and ... that boiling water will eat away at the organic material, the tissues, and eventually there will just be some bone" leftover, Poland said. It's not the most uncommon of occurrences, Poland said. Often, animals will walk along the edge of hot springs. In most instances, animals fall in because the crust surrounding the pool is thinner than it appears and can break with enough weight. "It's possible something like that happened," Poland said. "Perhaps a little shelf that [the bison] was standing on collapsed and that exposed [it] to more hot water." Poland added: "But I can't say for sure." He noted that he's never heard of this happening at Grand Prismatic before, and said it's not entirely clear just how often it happens. Scientists know it occurs at least from time to time, though, because animal skeletons can be found at hot springs around the park, many of which are in the backcountry, away from tourist activity, Poland said. What makes this case unique is the fact that the bison died in the largest and most tourist-populated spring in the park during the summer busy season. Katie Hirtzel was visiting Yellowstone National Park and witnessed the bison's demise, according to her post on Facebook. She said watching the entire episode was "incredibly powerful and moving." "It was amazing to witness raw nature and the circle of life in front of our eyes like that," Hirtzel said. "It is going to be interesting to see how the park decides to move forward as scavengers are drawn to such a populated area." Poland said he sees this as a cautionary tale for humans visiting the park. He said visitors should stay on the boardwalks — which are there for a reason — and not get too close. "It's amazing to go and visit these places in Yellowstone. They are spectacular," Poland said. "But this is why it's so important to stay on the boardwalks."
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Onlookers watch as large bison dies in scalding Yellowstone hot spring
Onlookers at one of Yellowstone National Park's most popular sites watched a large bison take its final steps into a scalding hot spring and die in a horrifying reminder of what can happen away from the safety of marked paths. The bison wandered into the Grand Prismatic Spring, located in the part of the park within Wyoming's borders, the morning of June 21, officials said. Photos and video posted by onlookers to social media show the bison appear to thrash around before slipping into the spring's waters, behind a curtain of steam. Katie Hirtzel, an Amazon driver from the Salt Lake City, Utah, area, saw the bison's remains resting in the spring hours later. "It's quiet, it's eerie, I couldn't really tell what it was at first," Hirtzel told USA TODAY. "I honestly found the whole experience so beautiful and inspiring to be able to see that raw power right in front of my face." Hirtzel, her husband and their 13-year-old son were visiting the park and spent four days camping in the area. She said when they went back to the Grand Prismatic Spring the next morning, the bison's remains were still there and didn't look at all changed. She hopes park rangers will leave the bison in its final resting place, as part of the "circle of life." Over time, the scalding hot water of the springs will take its toll on the bison's remains, said Mike Poland, the scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory with the U.S. Geological Survey. Poland said it's likely that the National Park Service rangers will leave the bison to decay naturally, but will keep an eye out just in case scavenging animals get too close to the busy tourist attraction and pose a risk to visitors. What you didn't know about Yellowstone: Old Faithful is 'just a tiny fraction' of Yellowstone National Park It's not unheard of for animals to fall victim to Yellowstone's dangerous natural landscape, Poland said, but it is rare for so many to witness it at a popular sightseeing spot. It's also an important reminder to visitors, he said: Stay safely on the boardwalks and marked trails to avoid serious injury or death. How hot does the Grand Prismatic Spring get? The Grand Prismatic Spring is Yellowstone's largest hot spring and one of the largest in the world, at between 200 and 300 feet in diameter and more than 121 feet deep. Its waters are really, really hot. Poland said the spring is shallow around its edges, where its water appears bright red in color due to bacteria and water is relatively cooler. Toward the center, the water gets deeper and hotter and colors change from red to a deep blue, he said. At the surface, temperatures have been recorded at about 192 degrees Fahrenheit, which is just under the boiling temperature of 200 degrees at that altitude, Poland said. Deeper down, water likely reaches boiling temperatures, he said. The temperatures in the spring are not survivable for long, he said. People who have strayed from designated paths around Yellowstone's thermal features have suffered second- and third-degree burns, or even died. Though it's morbid to think about, the bison's remains are essentially being "poached," Poland said. Over time, the boiling water will break down the flesh and tissue of the bison and only its skeleton will remain, he said. It's a common misconception that Yellowstone's springs will eat away at flesh because they are acidic; in fact, Poland said the majority of the springs in the park are neutral, not acidic. See photos of the bison at Grand Prismatic Spring Do animals at Yellowstone have special instincts to avoid hot springs? Hirtzel said she was shocked to see the animal dead in the hot spring, and she and her family and just been discussing how the animals that live in Yellowstone must know to avoid the springs. Wildlife at the park don't have any special instincts to stay away from the hot springs, Poland said. Like humans, they can sense increased temperatures as they walk near the springs and can probably tell there is danger. Still, there is plenty of evidence that animals dying in hot springs is not terribly uncommon, Poland said. In fact, there is a spot a few miles away from the Grand Prismatic Spring in the Lower Geyser basin known unofficially as "Skeleton Pool" because of how many animal skeletons have been spotted there. Animals can even be drawn toward the park's hot springs during freezing winters as a source of warmth, sometimes ending in a deadly misstep. "We know animals aren't immune to making mistakes," Poland said. "This probably happens more often than we would know because a lot of times this won't be observed... that this happened at Grand Prismatic right during the summer when people are watching is a unique event." The bison that died appeared to get itself into a tough spot while walking around the hot spring's crust and started to get burned by the water, then thrashed around and got itself into deeper, deadlier water and couldn't recover, Poland said. That's why it's so important for people not to leave the boardwalks around the hot springs, he said. Even if it looks like you are stepping on solid ground, the ground can be thin enough to give way to scalding waters when you step on them. "This is why the boardwalks and trails are where they are," Poland said. "It prevents damage to the thermal areas and it also prevents people from getting into bad situations."
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- General
- Miami Herald
Visitors see bison fall into Yellowstone hot spring and die. ‘Haunting'
Some Yellowstone visitors were left reeling from witnessing a bison's last moments after the animal fell into one of the park's hot springs. The incident happened Saturday, June 21, just before 7 a.m., according to Yellowstone National Park visitors who witnessed the bison's demise. 'Unfortunately, I witnessed the bison drowning in the Grand Prismatic Springs early yesterday morning,' someone wrote in a June 22 post in the 'Yellowstone Through The Lens' Facebook group, where park and wildlife enthusiasts share photos and information about the park. 'It took a few steps into a shallow area to the right of the pool, it turned around and stepped out very quickly. It stood for a moment, then turned back towards the spring and stepped into a deeper section then couldn't get out despite trying its best.' Photos show the bison struggling in the spring, thrashing and jumping into the air to try to get away from the boiling hot water. 'These images are haunting,' someone said in the comments. While it was likely horrific to witness, it is something that happens in the park 'from time to time,' Mike Poland, scientist-in-charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told McClatchy News in an email. 'There are occasional reports from observers of wildlife dying in hot springs,' he said in the email. 'I can't tell you exactly how many incidents there are a year (likely many that happen go unwitnessed), but it's not at all unprecedented.' Several people commented on the post, some saying it was sad while others said it was fascinating to see nature play out before them. 'What an incredible experience to witness nature's beauty and fury,' someone else said. 'Such a beautiful and dangerous place,' another person said. Another person posted photos and videos they had taken of the aftermath in the Facebook group, seeking information about the type of animal they had seen dead at the edge of the spring. They initially thought it was 'a massive bear,' they said. The photos and videos show the spring's steam causing low visibility in the basin, which some speculated might have confused the bison as it was trying to escape. 'I took a moment to contemplate the story this scene might tell, and the inevitability of life and death,' they wrote in the June 22 post. 'While a bit existential, it made for one of my most memorable experiences in nature.'
