Yellowstone bison gores 83-year-old woman, park says

The bison “came within a few feet of the woman and lifted her about a foot off the ground with its horns,” he said.

The Greenville, South Carolina, victim, who has not been named, was transported to Lake Medical Clinic and then flown by helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, according to the Park Service. The statement added that authorities are investigating the incident.

Neither the Park Service nor Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center responded to a request Tuesday morning for more information.

The Park Service statement reiterated guidelines urging visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from large animals, including bison, and at least 100 yards from bears and wolves at all times.

“Bison are not aggressive animals, but they will defend their space when threatened,” park officials warned after the latest blow. “They are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans.” The Park Service says the safest way to view Yellowstone wildlife is from a car.

According to the park, bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal. Last year, a woman was gored by a bison near the north shore of Yellowstone Lake. Authorities said she was walking away from two of the animals when one charged and inflicted “serious injuries to her chest and abdomen.”

The previous year, two other visitors to Yellowstone were attacked by bison within weeks of each other. In May 2022, a 25-year-old woman was gored by a female bison and thrown 10 feet in the air after approaching the animal near Old Faithful Geyser, park officials said; she suffered a puncture wound and other injuries. The following month, a 34-year-old Colorado Springs man was walking with his family on a boardwalk near Giant Geyser when a male bison charged the group and the family did not leave the area, park officials said. The man was gored by the bull and suffered an arm injury, according to the release.

According to the Park Service, Yellowstone was home to a population of nearly 5,000 bison in 2023, 10 times its 1970 population.

Bison are the largest land mammals in North America, with males weighing up to 2,000 pounds and females up to 1,000 pounds. They can run at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour, swim, spin and jump over 5-foot fences.

Just two centuries ago, bison dominated the North American continent by the millions. However, as the United States moved west in the 19th century, European colonizers massacred thousands of animals, for sport, for their skins, and in an effort to starve native tribes and driven from their ancestral homes.

Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times, according to the Department of the Interior.

Park officials also advise visitors against going off the beaten path to explore Yellowstone’s geologic thermal areas. Despite warnings that the ground beneath the hot springs is fragile and that the scalding hot springs pose burn hazards to curious hands, visitors have repeatedly ignored signs warning them against testing the waters, and Many burns or injuries resulted.