Tourist gets too close to a bison

For the second time in three weeks, a bison seriously injured a tourist in Yellowstone National Park who apparently underestimated how quickly the animals can move.

The bison tossed a 62year-old Australian several times into the air. The unidentified man was hospitalized with serious but nonlife-threatening injuries.

Park officials said several people had crowded the bison as it lay on the grass near a paved sidewalk not far from the famous Old Faithful geyser.

“The bison was already getting agitated,” Yellowstone spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said, when the man stepped forward and snapped photos with an electronic notepad just three to five feet away from the animal.

Park officials recommend getting no closer to a bison than 25 yards.

When the bison charged, the victim could not escape. Bison can weigh as much as a small car and run three times faster than a person.

It was the second bison attack in Yellowstone since summer tourist season began a month ago. On May 16, a bison in the Old Faithful area gored a 16-year-old girl from Taiwan as she posed for a picture near the animal. The girl was treated at a hospital for serious but not lifethreatening injuries and released, Bartlett said.