Phoenix Woman Seriously Injured by Bison at Yellowstone National Park
According to the National Park Service, a 47-year-old woman suffered “significant injuries to her chest and abdomen” after being gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park. The incident took place on Monday when the woman, a resident of Phoenix, was visiting the park. She was accompanied by another person and they encountered two bison while walking near the Lake Lodge Cabins on the north shore of Lake Yellowstone.
Upon noticing the bison, the visitors attempted to walk away from them. However, one of the bison charged at them and attacked the woman. As a result, she sustained serious injuries and had to be airlifted to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho for treatment. The woman’s current condition remains unknown, and her identity has not been disclosed.
The National Park Service does not have additional details about the incident, including the proximity between the visitors and the bison when the attack occurred. It is worth noting that the park service consistently advises visitors against approaching wildlife and recommends maintaining a minimum distance of 23 meters (25 yards) from large animals such as bison, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes. For bears and wolves, the recommended distance is at least 91 meters (100 yards).
Park officials also caution that bison tend to be more aggressive than usual during the mating season, which spans from mid-July to mid-August. They emphasize the unpredictable nature of bison, as these animals can cover significant distances rapidly, running three times faster than humans.
This incident marks the first reported bison goring at Yellowstone in 2023, according to the park service. The most recent goring took place on June 28, 2022, when a man intervened to protect a child from a bison and was injured as a result. Less than a month before that incident, another woman was gored by a bison and thrown 10 feet into the air.
Yellowstone National Park is home to approximately 6,000 bison, as estimated by the National Park Service’s count in the summer of 2022. These large herbivores faced near extinction during the 20th century but have persisted on the North American plains since ancient times. Female bison can weigh up to 500 kilograms (1,000 pounds), while males can weigh nearly twice as much.
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