A man suffered serious injuries after beingridden by a bison in it Yellowstone National Park last Friday. The shocking sequence of the blow and the moment in which the man flies more than two meters through the air was recorded by a professional photographer who was at the scene and quickly went viral on social networks.
According to local media, the incident occurred in the Bridge Bay camp area, at a time when the man was walking with his minor grandson.
Mike MacLeod, the photographer who took the images, told a local media that it was his wife who noticed the animal entering the camp area and that, before the attack, the animal was already altered.
«He approached a group of kids who were taking photos with their cell phones from a good distance away, and then the buffalo charged at them«he said.
The portrait painter maintained that, after running around the field for a while and scaring some attendees, the bison found a piece of land to wallow in and calmed down.
It was at that moment that the grandfather and his grandson arrived at the place, walking along the road, quite far from the area where the bison were, and one of the animals began to approach.
«He was sitting in the dust, as bison usually do, with his head facing the road. When the bison started to get up, Grandpa said: ‘Ok, time to go’and they walked away behind those trees,» explained the photographer, in dialogue with Cowboy State Daily.
According to the photographer, at that moment a white truck passed by and disturbed the animal. The bison began to chase the truck but, when it drove away, He went to look for the people who were behind the bushes. The man managed to evade it for a moment, but then the animal charged again and charged him, making it fly more than two meters in the air.
When the old man fell to the ground, the bison stopped, but did not escape. He stood over the man, shaking his head in clear agitation.
That’s when MacLeod decided to try to get the mammal’s attention to prevent worse damage. «He was very afraid that I would gore him.so I stopped recording and ran towards him, yelled loudly and tried to look as big and intimidating as possible,» he explained.
Other observers joined the photographer and ran towards the bison, causing it to escape. After the animal escaped, several park attendants approached the victim, who was in a lot of pain, especially in his hips and the leg on which he fell.
After a 911 call, Yellowstone emergency services personnel arrived at the scene and took charge of the situation. According to MacLeod, after the incident, he managed to contact the victim’s grandson, who told him that his grandfather «He has quite serious injuries» and that he is «not out of the woods yet.»
In a statement regarding a previous incident, the park had already indicated that Bison «have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal» and that «they are unpredictable.» «They can run three times faster than humans and will defend their space when they feel threatened,» they said.
The second incident in less than a month
This Friday was not the first incident of this type in Yellowstone National Park. Less than a month ago, on June 26, a 12-year-old visitor was also injured by a bison near the Barro Volcano area, just north of the protected area’s fishing bridge.
According to the park on that occasion, the minor suffered injuries and He had to be rushed to a nearby hospital..
After the incident, authorities issued a statement reminding that «the animals in Yellowstone are wild and can be dangerous» and that «They can be aggressive if people do not respect their space».
«Visitors are responsible for staying at least 25 meters away from all large animals, including bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, elk and coyotes, and at least 100 meters away from bears, wolves and mountain lions,» they explained at that time.
Among its recommendations, the park suggested that if wildlife approaches, tourists should move away «to maintain the required distance.» «Never approach, touch, feed or disturb wildlifeeven if an animal seems calm,» they asked.
D.D.
