It’s officially baby bison season in Yellowstone National Park. The year’s first newborn bison, also called “red dogs” for their reddish appearance, has been spotted and photographed sticking close to its mother in the Lamar Valley.
Gardiner resident Kyle Moon of Moon Man Wildlife Photography was heading into the park Sunday to look for owls. That’s when he got a tip from a fellow wildlife guide that there was a photography opportunity too good to pass up.
“Hannah mentioned that she had spotted her first red dog of the year that morning,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “None of us had spotted any newborns up to this point, so as soon as we got word of this newborn, my colleague Rob and I shifted gears and went out looking for this red dog.”
The baby bison was spotted near Little America, a popular place for Yellowstone visitors to see calves of the year frolicking in spring and summer.
Moon sought a strategic vantage point where he could overlook the area to scope out a red spot among the white snow and dully colored sage.
“We hiked up a mound where we could get eyes on the bison herds in the area,” he said. “We didn’t get there until the afternoon, but we spotted the bison calf within 15 minutes.”
Moon captured several pictures of the tiny calf, which could only have been a few days old. A small crowd gathered to take in the special sight.
“A lot of people got to see Yellowstone’s first red dog of 2025,” he said.
Out Of Synchrony
The calving season for bison ranges from mid-April to early July, but that doesn’t mean every baby bison falls within that range. However, a staggering number of them tend to be born during the same short period.
A 1984 study of bison at the National Bison Range in Montana found that around 80% of bison calves were born during three weeks from the last week of April through the first two weeks of May.
A similar study at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota found that 95% of bison calves were born during a 40-day period between mid-April and late May.
This natural phenomenon is called birth synchrony. Biologists believe it is an evolutionary adaptation many animals use to give mothers and their offspring the best chance of survival, factoring in seasonal limitations like food availability and predation risk.
Based on these scientific analyses, Yellowstone’s first bison calf of 2025 is an early aberration.
Moon, a wildlife guide who's frequently working in the park, couldn’t recall seeing one this early in the year.
“We don't start seeing red dogs until about mid to late April,” he said. “This one is definitely on the early side of things, but it's not impossible to see one this early. It can happen, but not often.”
Taking What Yellowstone Gives
From what Moon could see, the bison calf seemed healthy and was keeping up with its mother and the rest of the herd. Bison calves are usually up and about within 30 minutes of birth, but they are typically born in warmer weather.
Moon wasn’t expecting to spend his day observing and photographing bison, but the first bison calf of 2025 was a unique and retrospective opportunity.
“I think one of the most underrated subjects in Yellowstone is our American bison,” he said. “A lot of people go see them, take a quick picture, and keep moving. They go around searching for other things and don't spend the time to get a quality image of a bison. They are so ubiquitous throughout the park.”
Moon posts photos of bears, wolves and other Yellowstone icons on his Instagram and photography website.
He tends to get good reactions to his images of the park’s predators and more elusive wildlife, but his experience with the bison calf Sunday reminded him of his photography philosophy in Yellowstone.
“I shoot everything I see in the park,” he said. “Bears and wolves are the dream subjects when people come here, but the reality of getting a close enough encounter for a photograph is not as easy as some think. So, I take what Yellowstone gives me.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
