Yellowstone National Park is home to grizzly bears, black bears, and grey wolves, but those apex predators haven't been in the news recently. Instead, American bison have been responsible for three separate incidents involving park visitors getting injured.
Between May 31 and June 29, three park visitors were gored by bison in various parts of the national park. They all required medical treatment in nearby hospitals.
This isn't surprising when you consider that the American bison is the largest land mammal in North America, with males weighing up to 2,000 pounds (907 kg) and standing 8.2 feet (2.5 m) tall at the shoulder. With their powerful shoulder humps and horns that can grow to two feet (0.6 m) in length, being charged by a bison is no laughing matter.
Yellowstone has seen far more incidents involving people getting injured by bison than by bears. Wolves have never attacked a human within the park.
Stay clear of that bison:
- Bison aren't usually aggressive to humans unless people get too close – which is what happened in all three of the recent incidents. The National Park Service recommends keeping a distance of 75 feet (23 m), which is roughly the length of a tennis court. Trying to photograph or take selfies with these wild animals up close can be a recipe for disaster.
- Although three attacks in a month is a lot, Yellowstone typically sees around one bison run-in with a park visitor every year. The attacks are rarely fatal, but victims can be injured by horns, knocked over, and thrown into the air with relative ease. In addition to their intimidating anatomy, bison can reach a top speed of 35 mph (56 km/h), which is around three times faster than a human can run.
- This isn't the only time that park visitors have found themselves on the wrong end of a bison. Between May and July 2015, five people were gored by bison in Yellowstone. Thirty-three people were injured by bison in Yellowstone between 1983 and 1985.
