A 72-year-old woman was recently gored by a bison in Yellowstone National Park after getting too close to the animal. The family who witnessed the scene caught it on camera, and the video clearly shows how the woman provoked the bison before it attacked.
A press release from Yellowstone National park reads that the woman approached the bison to take photos of it. However, I can’t see her holding a smartphone or a camera in the video. It looks like she was trying to pet the animal, which is nothing less stupid than taking a photo of it from up close.
The family who filmed the incident say that the lady was, indeed, reaching out to pet the bison and that “she just kept provoking it.” And the animal didn’t like it. “I could hear the bison making noises and blowing steam out,” said Jenna Larsen who saw what happened. “It was just an accident waiting to happen.”
Jenna was filming the encounter and captured the moment when the bison charged. She says that it threw the woman “maybe 10, 15 feet in the air across,” adding that she lost consciousness briefly. “She got up and it hit her again.”
Jenna’s mother Jodi, who is a nurse, approached the woman to help her. She got some blankets for her, and she adds that the lady had no memory of what happened to her. She was later airlifted to an Idaho hospital, and she has reportedly been released since then. Fortunately, none of her vital organs were hurt in the attack, she only had two gorge marks.
The family says that there are signs all over Yellowstone warning visitors not to approach the wildlife. After the incident, Yellowstone once again warned everyone to keep their distance from the animals in the park:
“Wildlife in Yellowstone National Park are wild. When an animal is near a campsite, trail, boardwalk, parking lot, or in a developed area, give it space. Stay more than 25 yards (23 m) away from all large animals – bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes and at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves. If need be, turn around and go the other way to avoid interacting with a wild animal in close proximity.”
Thankfully, this incident didn’t end tragically, but we all know that it could have. So folks, please, leave animals alone, don’t pose with them for Instagram or provoke them in any way. You’re on their territory, they will defend it, and they have all the right to do it.
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