Bison Herd Blocks Traffic Protecting Calf In Yellowstone National Park

Traffic in Yellowstone National Park came to a standstill in both directions for a bison calf and a protective herd surrounding it on the road.

The rest of the herd watched over the youngster, which decided to take a rest in the middle of the road.

A tiny bison calf brought traffic to a standstill at Yellowstone National Park last week, when it decided to take a rest in the middle of the road. The tiny calf’s mother took the opportunity to groom it, and the rest of the herd blocked traffic until the youngster was ready to move on.

The heartwarming moment was captured by park visitor Linda Kinzy, who shared a video on Facebook .

“Awesome bison jam today,” she wrote. “This little one caused quite the traffic backup in both directions. Mom and the other guardian bison said ‘You shall not pass!'”

According to the National Park Service  (NPS), 80% of bison at Yellowstone are born between April and May. This is due to ‘birth synchrony’, which is an evolutionary adaptation that causes females of a species to give birth within a specific narrow window of time. Many births within a herd will take place within just a few weeks.

Bison calves, like the one in the video above, are born with a reddish-colored coat, which has led to the nickname ‘red dogs’. They start nursing within 10-30 minutes of birth, and begin drinking water and grazing on tender grass within a week.

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