A man who picked up a bison calf in Yellowstone National Park caused it to be shunned by its herd, prompting park officials to kill the animal rather than allow it to be a hazard to visitors.

Park officials quickly defended the decision to kill the newborn bison.

"We made the choice we did not because we are lazy, uncaring or inexpert in our understanding of bison biology. We made the choice we did because national parks preserve natural processes," the park said in a statement posted Tuesday on Twitter.

Related video above: Unidentified man could face charges after bison calf encounter, Yellowstone National Park officials say

Park officials' options for dealing with the animal were limited, according to the statement, which said bison must be quarantined before being sent to conservation herds outside the park. A bison calf abandoned and unable to care for itself is not a good candidate for quarantine, the statement said.

The calf became separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River in northeastern Yellowstone on Saturday. The unidentified man pushed the struggling calf up from the river and onto a roadway, park officials said in a news release.

Human interference with young wildlife can cause animals to shun their offspring. Park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the calf with the herd but were unsuccessful.

At one point, visitors saw the calf walking up to and following cars and people. This created a hazard, so park staff killed the animal, according to the news release.

It's the latest example of Yellowstone visitors getting in trouble or hurt after approaching bison. Park officials euthanized a newborn bison after a similar incident in 2016, when a Canadian man and his son put the calf in their SUV, thinking they could rescue it.

The man pleaded guilty. He was fined $235 and ordered to pay $500 to the Yellowstone Park Foundation Wildlife Protection Fund.

Bison have gored several people in Yellowstone in recent years, often after they got too close to the animals.

Many of Yellowstone's larger animals — including bison, which can run up to 35 mph and weigh up to 2,000 pounds — are deceptively dangerous, even when they are just grazing or resting.

Video below: Bison herd blocks cars while strolling along a national park road in Wyoming

Park rules require visitors to keep at least 25 yards away from wildlife including bison, elk and deer, and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves.

Park officials are investigating the bison calf incident. The suspect was a white male in his 40s or 50s who was wearing a blue shirt and black pants, the statement said.

The calf's body was left on the landscape, similar to the 25% or so of Yellowstone's newborn bison that don't survive, park officials said in the Twitter statement.

"Those deaths will benefit other animals by feeding everything from bears and wolves to birds and insects. Allowing this cycle of life to play out aligns most closely with the stewardship responsibility entrusted to us by the American people," the statement said.

MISSOULA, Mont. — For generations, hunters have used lead ammo, but a new group is trying to spread the word about lead-free ammo to help protect the environment and wildlife from lead poisoning.

Sporting Lead-Free, a Wyoming hunting group, wants to prove the value of switching ammo and tackle to local sportsmen and women. The group hopes to reduce lead consumed inadvertently by people and wildlife and show the positives of choosing tackle and ammo that doesn’t poison the environment.

“The more I’m out interacting with the animals in their habitat and appreciating that I have the opportunity, the more I care about the animals,” said Kai Whitehill, a hunter who uses lead-free ammo. “The more I understand the animals, the more I want to protect the habitat, and the more I‘m willing to give of my time and energy and resources to make sure that habitat is always there. There’s an after effect where any lead still at the kill site is basically going to be consumed from other animals that come by.”

According to studies and demonstrations by the Sporting Lead-Free, lead ammo can fragment into hundreds of pieces when it hits a target, which could lead to lead in meat.

It also causes scavenging birds to consume gut piles, leading to lead poisoning.

According to the American Bird Conservancy, an estimated 10 to 20 million birds and other animals die each year from lead poisoning.

“People don’t realize when that lead bullet hits that animal, it fragments into several hundred pieces,” said Hannah Leonard with Sporting Lead-Free. “Depending on the bullet some fragment less some fragment a lot more. The fragments might be the size of a tip of a pen. There’s about 160 fragments in a gut pile and for an eagle, it only takes that tiny amount to kill it so it’s mind boggling.”

Leanard travels to different states to demonstrate the difference between the use of lead and copper ammo.

Some of their programs include X-raying packaged meat to help get the lead out of wild game meals and demonstrating the advantages of new, non-lead ammunition.

According to Brian Bedrosian, the director and co-founder of the group, the group has X-rayed about 1,200 packages of wild game meat and found lead fragments in about 15% of the ground meat packages.

“It’s pretty much impossible to keep lead fragments out of meat of harvested animals,” Bedrosian said. “But it’s very deadly to scavenging birds that consume gut piles. As for humans, if exposure is low the metal rarely causes severe issues. However, it’s better to have fragment free meat in general for your family.”

The group feels it’s a better approach to educate outdoor enthusiasts than seeking legislation outlawing the use of lead ammo.

“We are 100% behind a voluntary educational approach,” Bedrosian said. “We have no interest in going down any kind of regulatory or legislative route.”

A Montana reporter got an unexpected lesson in social distancing – from bison.

KTVM reporter Deion Broxton was getting ready for a live report from Yellowstone National Park when he noticed some bison approaching him and his vehicle.

“Oh my God, oh my God. Oh no, I’m not messing with you,” Broxton can be heard saying in a video. "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no, I'm not messing with you."

Here's the video of the bison I shot once I got a safe distance away lol

pic.twitter.com/uL3XiR2ISR

— Deion Broxton KTVM (@DeionNBCMT)

March 26, 2020

When the animals got too close for comfort, Broxton made the executive decision to bail and stashed his camera in his car.

Once at a safer distance, Broxton shot video of the bison and you can see why he was so intimidated. They were large.

The video of Broxton’s hilarious reaction has now become a meme, used when people are not happy with a situation.

When Yellowstone park officials caught wind of the video, they

praised the reporter

for offering “a perfect example of what to do when approached by wildlife!”

The National Park Service even

offered a handy graphic

to remind people to practice social distancing with wild animals.

“Social distancing means avoiding large gatherings and maintaining distance (6 ft) from others. While we're at it, remember to keep it at least 300 ft for larger wildlife,” NPS wrote.

Bison have been known to charge people, even when not provoked, but attacks by the animals aren’t exactly common. Yellowstone officials say they typically see one or two each year.

For now, Yellowstone is closed to visitors until further notice because of the coronavirus pandemic.