Outside of Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park is one of the most beautiful and exciting National Parks in the United States.

If you’ve been to Yellowstone, you know that animals roam freely there, and the bison is one ofpark the most common animals spotted throughout the .

Well, tourists early in the week witnessed a bison up close, but unfortunately, they watched it step into a hot spring, resulting in its death.

Here’s the moment it happened:

A bison walked to its death right into the boiling waters of Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone National Park, stunning onlookers. https://t.co/FEAxgYB3fh pic.twitter.com/BzZrmeJ5s0

— USA TODAY Video (@usatodayvideo) June 26, 2025

CBS had these details to report on the bison’s tragic death:

The incident occurred during the early morning of June 21 at Grand Prismatic Spring near Old Faithful as tourists were enjoying a close-up view of the famous and popular hot spring, according to witnesses and a spokesperson for Yellowstone.

“There were two bison (standing) there,” said Louise Howard, who was visiting Yellowstone from Colorado for the first time. “I thought it was a great photo opportunity.”

She told CBS News on Friday that one of the bison started walking toward the spring and appeared to step into a shallow part before quickly jumping out. She said that in a manner of about 30 seconds, the bison started walking but stumbled at the edge of the spring and fell in.
“As hard as it tried, it couldn’t get out,” said Howard, who shared photos on social media.

Michael Poland, scientist-in-charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory and a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told CBS News on Friday it is not unprecedented that animals fall into hot springs. He said scientists have found skeletons at hot springs around the park, many of which are in the backcountry, not visited by tourists.

Dozens of #Yellowstone visitors were shocked to witness the death of a bison as it stepped into the water at the shallow edge of Grand Prismatic Spring on Saturday morning.

Left behind is a carcass that will soon be “dissolved” by the 160-degree water. https://t.co/On0YbbaafX pic.twitter.com/jReQvrDvCJ

— The Last Show- Karen Lee (@thelastshow) June 25, 2025

Michael Poland, who serves as the chief scientist of Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told NBC News the following details:

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.

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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 is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

View the original article here.