Visitors at Yellowstone National Park last month got what CBS News calls a "front row to nature," though a horrifying one. Dozens of tourists were huddled around Grand Prismatic Spring, near the Old Faithful geyser, on the morning of June 21 when a bison slipped into a shallow part of the scalding waters. "Clearly alarmed by the hot water ... the animal stumbled as it tried to get out and ended up stepping into an area of deeper water and quickly perished," reports USGS Volcanoes, adding that the water temperatures in the spring go up to 192 degrees Fahrenheit, "just below boiling temperature at that elevation."
"It took a few steps into a shallow area to the right of the pool, it turned around and stepped out very quickly," one tourist who witnessed the event and took photos writes on Facebook. "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. I have a video of it coming up to take its last breath but it's a tough watch."
"After its death, the bison's carcass could be seen floating in the shallows of the thermal pool," notes Cowboy State Daily, which points out the misperception that living creatures that fall into the hot spring are "dissolved" by acid-heavy water (the water there isn't actually acidic at all, per a park scientist). Instead, it's the super-hot water temperature that does the victim in. USGS Volcanoes is now taking the opportunity to remind park visitors to stay on the boardwalk in thermal areas of the park, and to remain at a safe distance from the park's "charismatic megafauna."
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