Park officials said a bison in Yellowstone National Park gored a 25-year-old Ohio woman and hurled her 10 feet into the air when she came too near to the animal.
According to a statement from the park, the lady approached the bison when it was wandering near a boardwalk at Black Sand Basin, just north of Old Faithful. The bison gored her and threw her off.
393346 06: The sun sets behind a herd of bison in Wind Cave National Park, August 14, 2001 in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. Millions of bison were slaughtered by white hunters who pushed them to near-extinction by the late 1800''s. Recovery programs have brought the bison numbers up to nearly 250,000.
Bison Throws Woman 10 Feet Into The Air
The two-horned creature punctured and tossed the 25-year-old lady from Grove City, Ohio, into the air at roughly 10 feet (3 meters).
The event occurred when the lady approached the bison headed toward a platform in the park's Black Sand Basin region.
In Northwest Wyoming, the place is notable for its concentration of geothermal hot springs.
According to the park officials in a statement, wildlife in Yellow National Park can be aggressive or life-threatening when confronted, Reuters reported.
The woman received a puncture wound and various injuries. Park first responders took her to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in an ambulance. No further injuries were recorded. According to the park officials, two other tourists were within 25 yards of the bison at the time of the incident.
More than 5,000 bison may be found in Yellowstone National Park, covering about 9,000 square kilometers and stretching into Idaho and Montana. The bison assault during Memorial Day weekend is the first in 2022.
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Related wild bison assaults have been reported at Yellowstone National Park in recent years, prompting the park to reinforce tourists to observe caution while around the wildlife. In 2019, a bison assaulted a little child in the same park, according to local news station KHQ.
NBC News, citing the park's guidelines, added that park visitors must stay at least 25 yards away from the creatures, which are unpredictable, may reach speeds of 35 mph, and can jump several feet.
About Bisons
The animal is known as "bison" or "buffalo" in North America, with the former being used formally and the latter being used casually.
According to the National Park Service (NPS), both use the scientific term Bison bison to refer to the American bison.
Before the 1850s, the National Park Service believed that 30 to 60 million bison roamed North America, mostly living on the Great Plains.
The American bison population declined due to hunting, and the species was on the verge of extinction. The US government estimates approximately 30,000 bison reside in both private and public herds across North America.
Meanwhile, the National Park Service (NPS) stated that roughly 400,000 bison are bred as livestock, emphasizing that a Yellowstone bison is the finest example of wild plains bison and conservation efforts.
Despite their declining numbers, bison have not been designated a vulnerable or endangered species.
According to National Geographic, bison are herbivore creatures with a lifetime of 12 to 20 years and a weight range of 930 to 2,000 pounds, making them the biggest mammal in North America and a symbol of the Great Plains.
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