A bison encounter left a man seriously injured on Friday in Yellowstone National Park, shocking witnesses at the scene.
Photographer Mike MacLeod was at the Bay Bridge Campground where he recorded the terrifying incident, Cowboy State Daily reported Saturday.
An elderly man was walking with his grandson when a bison was seen rubbing its face in the dirt nearby as the two watched from a distance.
MacLeod said the bison also charged a group of children who were at a safe distance, but they were able to run to safety.
MacLeod, who was a combat photographer in the Army, said he anticipated the situation was about to get worse.
“He was sitting in the dust, like bison do, with his head out towards the road. When the bison started to get up, the grandfather’s like, ‘OK, time to leave,’ and they moved off behind these trees,” MacLeod recalled.
The video footage showed the animal charge the pair, who moved out of sight for a moment behind a cluster of trees. Moments later, the elderly man was seen running out of their hiding place, and the bison followed.
When the animal caught up to the man, he threw him eight feet into the air and the man landed on the ground as the bison stood over him.
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McLeod quickly took action to try and rescue the man because he said he was afraid of it goring the victim.
“I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” he said.
Others at the scene joined his rescue effort and the bison eventually took off. Emergency workers arrived at the scene and McLeod said the man’s grandson later told him he had significant injuries.
Bison are the largest land mammals in North America and the park is the only place in the United States they have continuously lived since prehistoric times, according to the National Park Service (NPS). Bison are also capable of running up to 35 miles per hour, jumping high fences, and swimming.
The NPS has always urged visitors to keep their distance from wildlife when visiting the parks, and McLeod said he did not see anyone at the scene on Friday getting too close to the bison, noting people warned others about its presence in order to maintain safety.
However, MacLeod said the bison was agitated and charging everything in sight.
“The biological explanation for what happened is the annual bison rut, which runs from June to September. During that time, bull bison surge with energy and aggression as they compete for dominance and females,” the Daily article stated.
In June, a 12-year-old tourist was injured during an encounter with a bison at the park near Mud Volcano, according to the NPS.
“The visitor sustained injuries, and emergency medical personnel transported them to a nearby hospital. The incident remains under investigation,” the park’s news release said.
