Bull bison tosses Yellowstone tourist 8ft in air, with run-in caught on video | Wyoming

An angry, 2,000-pound (900 kg) bull bison hooked a tourist at a campground in Wyoming’s Yellowstone national park on Friday and threw him 8 feet into the air; This encounter was recorded by a professional photographer, who said the animal was “agitated, angry and blaming everything.”

It was reported that the tourist was seriously injured by a male bison while walking with his grandson in the Bridge Bay campground south of Fisherman’s Bridge.

The National Park Service (NPS), which manages Yellowstone, has not released details about the attack.

But professional photographer Mike MacLeod of nearby Bozeman, Montana, Wyoming described it vividly. Cowboy State Journal newspaper. And he also presented the video of the attack to the press. posted on YouTube.

MacLeod said he was camping at a campground with his wife when he noticed the bison approaching the area.

“I was just trying to get some dramatic footage of that bison having a fit,” MacLeod said. “My idea of ​​what to expect from these guys this time of year has changed because I couldn’t have predicted this coming.”

MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily the bison “started walking around the campground.” “It was coming from a long distance towards a group of kids who were taking pictures on their cell phones, and then the buffalo attacked those kids.”

MacLeod said the bison continued to run through the campground as campers yelled and screamed to warn each other. The man, who would later be thrown into the air, appeared as he walked down a path while the animal sat in the dust.

“He was sitting in the dust with his head towards the road, just like bison do,” MacLeod said.

In MacLeod’s video, the grandfather and grandson can each be seen pulling out their cellphone cameras and pointing them at the bison — apparently dozens of feet away — before it begins to take off.

At that point, MacLeod reported to Cowboy State Daily, “Grandpa said, ‘Okay, time to go,’ and they went behind these trees.”

The animal was distracted by a pickup truck and charged into it, causing the driver of the vehicle to accelerate.

“The man in the truck saw this and moved on,” MacLeod said, adding that the bison then turned its attention to where the man and his grandson were “hiding in the trees.”

The grandson managed to escape, while the bison chased his grandfather around some trees and flipped him over, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily.

“The bison tied him to his hip with his left horn and threw him into the air,” she told the outlet. “He did a perfect somersault and landed on his side.

“The bison was at least six feet tall and the victim was several feet above him.”

MacLeod said he tried to distract the bison: “I was really afraid it was going to attack the guy on the ground, so I stopped taking video and ran towards the bison, yelling loudly and trying to be as big and scary as possible.”

Other bystanders did the same and the bison escaped.

MacLeod said the injured man’s grandson told him that the grandfather “had pretty significant injuries and wasn’t out of the woods yet.”

Yellowstone officials warn on the park’s website that the park’s animals are “wild and dangerous no matter how docile they appear” and that the best way to see them is from inside a car.

Officials advise visitors to stay at least 100 yards (90 meters) away from bears, wolves and cougars and at least 25 yards away from all other animals, including bison and elk.

“If an animal approaches you, back away to maintain a safe distance,” the park’s website reads. “It is unlawful to deliberately stand near or approach wildlife, including birds, at any distance that would disturb or displace the animal.”

MacLeod said the injured man was following parking recommendations. “I didn’t see anyone approaching,” MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. “People were yelling, ‘Watch out, there’s a bison coming,’ and they kept their distance. They were very respectful.”

The attack took place during the bison rutting, or mating season, when males were trying to demonstrate their physical strength and endurance in a mating contest with a bison cow.

“We could tell he was agitated, angry and blaming everything,” MacLeod said.

This is the second bison incident in Yellowstone in 2026, Cowboy State Daily reported. The first occurred on June 26, when a 12-year-old boy was injured near Mud Volcano, north of Fisherman’s Bridge.

“The visitor was injured and emergency medical personnel transported them to a nearby hospital,” NPS said. in question in a statement. “The investigation of the incident continues”