A man was seriously injured Friday evening after a bull bison threw him about 8 feet into the air at Yellowstone National Park, turning a campground encounter into a violent attack in a matter of seconds. The incident happened near Bridge Bay Campground, south of Fishing Bridge, and was filmed by Mike MacLeod, who said the animal was charging anything and everything as it moved through the area.
MacLeod was camping at Bridge Bay Campground when his wife pointed out the bull bison entering the area. He said he grabbed his camera to film from what he believed was a safe distance and watched the animal move through the campground before it charged a group of kids taking pictures on their cellphones. The children scattered safely, but the scene kept escalating.
He said the man who was later injured was walking with his grandson when the bison targeted them. MacLeod said the two were at least 100 yards from the animal, yet it still ran at them. He said the grandfather and grandson moved behind trees after the bison started to get up, but the animal then tore into the trees and chased them after first expending energy on a sapling.
The witness said the bull was angry and agitated, and that he had never expected to see a bison behave that way at this time of year. He compared the animal’s movement to something he could track clearly from a distance, saying he could see it coming as it shifted from one target to the next. In another moment, he said a white pickup appeared, the bison charged the truck, and the driver kept moving before the animal turned back toward the men hiding in the trees.
The National Park Service had not released any information on the incident at the time of publication. That leaves the central unanswered question centered on the injured man’s condition and whether he received additional treatment after the attack. For now, what is known is that a campground crowd saw the bison move from one threat to another, and one man paid the price in a place where distance is not always enough.
