Bison dies after falling into hot spring at Yellowstone National Park in front of visitors: "A front row to nature"

A bison died after it appeared to stumble into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park last week while visitors looked on.

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."