Note to self: Don’t stand so close to bison
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Every year, more than three million people pour into Yellowstone Park.
They gaze upon the geysers. They marvel at the mountains and valleys. They hike around miles of picturesque trails. In other words, they get closer to nature. Occasionally a little too close.
On Tuesday, a 43-year-old Mississippi woman and her sixyear-old daughter were snapping a selfie in front of a wild bison when the massive animal attacked.
The woman was the fifth person to be attacked by bison in Yellowstone this year.
The root problem is simple, said park spokeswoman Amy Bartlett.
“People are getting way too close,” she said. “The (woman) said they knew they were doing something wrong but thought it was OK because other people were nearby.”
Bison herds once roamed freely across the Great Plains, but Yellowstone is now one of the few places where the animals still run wild.
“Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times,” according to the National Park Service.
In recent years, tourists have started taking selfies with Yellowstone’s 5,000 or so bison.
It appears to be part of a bigger trend of tourists snapping photos of themselves in front of wild, often dangerous animals. Park officials from the Sierra Nevadas to Alberta have issued bulletins blasting visitors for getting too close to the animals in pursuit of the perfect selfie.
“Visitor centre staff routinely encounter unsafe situations as guests ignore their instructions and get too close to bears to take photos and videos,” the U.S. Forest Service recently warned.
According to a 2000 study, Yellowstone’s bison are more dangerous than its bears. The study found bison charged people 81 times over 22 years, killing two. The grizzly bears, meanwhile, had injured 30 and killed two.
Tuesday’s goring comes as Yellowstone tries to crack down on the problem. Rangers have distributed pamphlets featuring images of a man being gored and flung into the air by a bison.
The flyer warns visitors that though they appear docile, bison are “wild, unpredictable, and dangerous.”
“A ranger can’t be at every bison all the time,” Bartlett said. “So people need to keep that common sense.”
Although this year’s tally of five gorings is unusually high, it’s not even close to being a record. That was back in 1987 when more than 40 people were injured in bison attacks in Yellowstone.