The calf was probably rejected because it was sickly. What do these animals do when “ranched” and humans interact with them? Maybe Bison are just so smart they know when they are slaves, or when they are free ranging.....
Mother deer will reject a fawn if it is touched by a human.
We have fawns born on our property every other year or so. The doe leaves the fawn alone for part of the day...it takes several weeks for the fawn to become strong enough to travel with its mother.
When we have a fawn in the field I make damn sure I don’t do anything in the field for fear of, literally, killing the fawn.
I think that you may be on to something. That the tourist managed to get the calf into the SUV without having the SUV being subsequently rammed repeatedly does seem to indicate pre-existing rejection. I wouldn’t want to get between a buffalo cow and her calf.
you can't claim that we're letting nature take it course when we're capturing and tagging many "wild" animals...so we can "study" them....
so what's natural?.
same goes for all these abnormal sexual persuasions.
The homosexuals are always climing that its natural....well okay then....lets let nature play its course...
that means no children...
that means early death....
Wild they do associate the human smell with danger and that is a good thing for both of us.
The calf wasn't sickly until these two human tourists manhandled him enough and put him in their SUV, that his mother didn't want him back. These animals are "wild", not pets. Nature can be cruel but it is what is is. People who dont know better cause more problems than nature causes.
Bison can be kept in domesticated herds for killing for the meat, like beef cattle on a property. But they are still meaner than heck and could kill you with one charge. They are not to be messed with. They are much more difficult to raise than beef cattle. I have a high school friend who raised some in Montana and he said never again. He was going back to cows.