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Baby Bison Controversy: Tourists Speak Out For First Time Since Trying To Save Yellowstone Calf

By Kim Brandow

From the archive: published Jun 3, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.

When Shamash Kassam and his son, Shakeel, decided to pick up a baby bison that was shivering and alone at Yellowstone National Park on May 9, they never thought in a million years that what they assumed was a kind gesture would turn into such a firestorm. The father and son have spoken out for the first time since the incident that caused such a ruckus.

The act that ended with the baby bison being euthanized began as an act of compassion for the unfortunate animal. The tourists said they were being treated unfairly, which is why they have chosen to share their side of the story.

In an exclusive interview that was aired on Good Morning America on Friday, they said that when the newborn calf approached their vehicle, it was shivering and still had the umbilical cord attached. They were pretty sure that it had been abandoned and chose to intervene and save the small bison. They didn’t want the little one to suffer.

“We didn’t have the heart to kind of, just leave it there and let it suffer, you know, as the darkness descended.”

The two men stated that they were shocked by the controversy that followed their misguided rescue attempt, and they never expected the anger that was directed at them. Once the photos of the baby bison in the back of their SUV made their way around the internet, and people found out the calf had been euthanized, the firestorm began. Shamash and Shakeel said the media made no mention that the animal was actually abandoned. Instead, the news reports claimed they had only put the animal in their vehicle because it was cold, and that was not why they tried to rescue it.

Their plan was to make sure the bison was safe by taking it to the park rangers, but instead of praise, they were scolded by them, and the rest of the world created an uproar. Their intended resolution for the situation was very different than how it actually turned out, as they explained.

“I thought it was going to be a happy ending, and the calf was going to be integrated with another herd, and everything was going to be fine. We had no idea it was going to turn out so bad like that.”

When asked if they had any reservations before they attempted to rescue the bison, Shakeel admitted that he did have second thoughts, but only for a minute or two.

“The hair was standing up a little bit on that one. I wasn’t 100 % sure but when I saw the calf outside shaking, I felt that, you know, this was the right thing to do.”

They were adamant that the baby bison would not have survived on its own if they had not intervened. However, the carefully thought out guidelines for the management of Yellowstone Park wildlife mandate that the Rangers do not intervene, even when baby animals are abandoned by their mothers. They let nature take its course.

The park rangers were also criticized for their decision to euthanize the baby, instead of trying to find a wildlife refuge that was willing to care for the young bison. However, park officials explained that they do not have the capacity to do that, which is why they stress that tourists should always stay well away from the wildlife in Yellowstone.

Once the baby bison was rescued by Shamash and Shakeel, it wanted to be around people, and according to the park service, it would not leave the area where humans and vehicles were, so they were forced to put down the hapless creature.

There was an attempt to reunite the calf with its herd, but the animal was rejected and had nowhere else to go. The father and son had assumed that once they gave the baby to the rangers, they would have found a place for the calf to live, not end the life of the baby bison.

Now that the rescue attempt has ended so badly, the Kassam men said that if they had to do it all over again, they would have just left the baby bison alongside the road to let nature take its course, as the park rules for Yellowstone require.

Shamash, who said that he never meant to have any of this happen, is not getting off unscathed. According to Huffington Post Canada, he has to pay a fine of $235, and he was also ordered to make a $500 contribution to Yellowstone Park. He is also ordered not to pick up any other bison as part of his six-month probation.

What are your thoughts about the saga of the baby bison? Does learning their side of the story change your opinion on Shamash and Shakeel?

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