UPDATED 6/30, 10:00 p.m. ET: People reports a 71-year-old woman from Pennsylvania was gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park, just two days after a Colorado man suffered a similar fate.
The National Park Service said in a news release that the woman and her daughter “inadvertently approached the bison as they were returning to their vehicle at the trailhead, causing the bull bison to charge.” She was transported to a local hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Park officials have long warned visitors to stay more than 25 yards away from bison, given their “wild and unpredictable” nature. This woman becomes the third person attacked by a bison at Yellowstone since late May.
See the original story below.
A Colorado man was taken to the hospital Monday after he was gored by a bison during a visit to Yellowstone National Park, NBC News reports.
The unidentified 34-year-old victim was walking with his family on the boardwalk near the Giant Geyser at Old Faithful when the bison charged towards them. The group didn’t heed what appeared to be a warning from the animal, and remained way too close for comfort. The bison charged once again, and this time, the man was gored and a child was knocked to the ground.
The man was hospitalized with an injury to his arm. No word yet on if he has been released.
This is the second incident at Yellowstone in as many months where a person got “too close to the animal and the bison responding to the perceived threat by goring the individual,” per park officials. A 25-year-old woman from Ohio was also near Old Faithful when a bison impaled her and tossed her 10 feet in the air. She was taken to the hospital with puncture wounds, among other injuries.
According to NPR, Yellowstone visitors are required to stay more than 25 yards away from large animals, such as bison and moose, and maintain a distance of at least 100 yards from bears and wolves.
