Bison attacks family at Yellowstone National Park

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (KTVX) — One man was taken to the hospital after he and his family were attacked by a bison at Yellowstone National Park Monday.

Video footage from parkgoer Rob Goodell shows the family extremely close to the bison near Giant Geyser at Old Faithful before he charges at them. What appears to be a family of four or five people, including a child, run in an effort to escape.

One person in the group, a 34-year-old Colorado man, was gored and sustained an arm injury, National Park officials say.

The injured man was taken to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center by ambulance.

Warning: The video below may be difficult for some viewers to watch

Video courtesy of Rob Goodell

Goodell says prior to recording the video he had been following the bison for a while. He watched the situation unfold, and claims the man seen wearing a hat in the video approached the bison and got too close.

According to Goodell, the man who was pummeled was the first to get the bison riled up.

Jeremy Shaw, a park manager at Utah’s Antelope Island, said people often get too close to bison. “They always want to get closer and closer for photos. But ultimately, any time there is a dangerous interaction with wildlife, it’s because the person got too close,” he said.

This is the second reported incident in 2022 of a visitor getting too close to a bison and the animal responding to the perceived threat by goring the individual.

The incident remains under investigation.