{"id":2191950,"date":"2026-07-20T18:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2191950"},"modified":"2026-07-18T09:31:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T08:31:49","slug":"bull-bison-tosses-yellowstone-tourist-8ft-in-air-with-run-in-caught-on-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/bull-bison-tosses-yellowstone-tourist-8ft-in-air-with-run-in-caught-on-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Bull bison tosses Yellowstone tourist 8ft in air, with run-in caught on video"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">An enraged, 2,000lb (900kg) bull bison hooked a tourist and tossed him 8ft into the air at a campsite in\u00a0Wyoming\u2019s Yellowstone national park on Friday \u2013 an encounter captured by a professional photographer who said the animal was \u201cagitated, pissed off and charging anything and everything\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The tourist was reported to be seriously injured by the male bison while walking with his grandson through the Bridge Bay campground, south of Fishing Bridge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The National Park Service (NPS), which administers Yellowstone, has not released details about the attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">But Mike MacLeod, a professional photographer from nearby Bozeman, Montana, gave a vivid account of it to Wyoming\u2019s\u00a0Cowboy State Daily\u00a0newspaper. And he provided video of the attack to the outlet, which\u00a0published it on YouTube.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Bison Flips Grandpa In Yellowstone National Park\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aIiMSCBHThA\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-slot-container \" data-ad-slot=\"true\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">MacLeod told the outlet that he was camping at a campground with his wife when she spotted the bison approaching the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cI was just trying to get some dramatic footage of that bison having a fit,\u201d MacLeod said. \u201cIt\u2019s changed my idea of what to expect from these guys at this time of year, because I would not have predicted that happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The bison, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily, \u201cstarted walking through the campground. He was coming up to this group of kids, who were taking pictures on their cellphones from a good distance away, and then the buffalo charged these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">MacLeod said the bison kept running through the campground while campers yelled and screamed to warn each other. The man who would be tossed into the air then appeared coming down a road while the animal was sitting in dust.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cHe was sitting in the dust, like bison do, with his head out towards the road,\u201d MacLeod said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">MacLeod\u2019s video shows the grandfather and grandson each pull cellphone cameras out and point it at the bison \u2013 while evidently dozens of yards away \u2013 before it started to get up.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-2 ad-slot-container--right-column ad-slot-container--offset-right\" data-ad-slot=\"true\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">At that point, MacLeod reported to Cowboy State Daily: \u201cThe grandfather\u2019s like, \u2018OK, time to leave,\u2019 and they moved off behind these trees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The animal was distracted by a pickup truck and charged it, prompting the vehicle\u2019s driver to speed off.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cThe guy in the truck saw that happening, and he just kept going,\u201d said MacLeod, who added that the bison then turned his attention to where the man and his grandson \u201cwere hiding in the trees\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The grandson managed to flee while the bison chased his grandfather around some trees and flipped him, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cThe bison hooked him with his left horn on his hip and tossed him in the air,\u201d he said to the outlet. \u201cHe made a perfect flip and landed on his side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cThe bison was at least 6ft tall, and the victim was several feet above him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">MacLeod said he tried to distract the bison: \u201cI was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Other bystanders did the same, and the bison fled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">MacLeod said the wounded man\u2019s grandson told him that the grandfather \u201chas some pretty significant injuries and is not out of the woods yet\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Yellowstone officials warns on the park\u2019s website that the animals in the park \u201care wild and dangerous, no matter how docile they may appear to be\u201d \u2013 and the best way to view them is from inside a car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Officials advise visitors to stay at least 100 yards (90 meters) away from bears, wolves and cougars \u2013 and a minimum of 25 yards away from all other animals, including bison and elk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cIf an animal moves closer to you, back away to maintain a safe distance,\u201d the park\u2019s website says. \u201cIt\u2019s illegal to willfully remain near or approach wildlife, including birds, within any distance that disturbs or displaces the animal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">MacLeod pointed out that the injured man was following park suggestions when he was attacked. \u201cI didn\u2019t see anybody getting close,\u201d MacLeod said to Cowboy State Daily. \u201cPeople were yelling, \u2018Careful, there\u2019s a bison coming through,\u2019 and they kept their distance. They were very respectful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The attack happened during bison rutting \u2013 or mating \u2013 season, when the males seek to show off their physical prowess and stamina in a contest for mating with a bison cow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cYou can tell he was agitated, pissed off and charging anything and everything,\u201d MacLeod said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Cowboy State Daily reported this was Yellowstone\u2019s second bison-on-human incident in 2026. The first occurred on 26 June, when a 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano, north of Fishing Bridge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cThe visitor sustained injuries, and emergency medical personnel transported them to a nearby hospital,\u201d the NPS\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/yell\/learn\/news\/26014.htm\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">said<\/a>\u00a0in a statement. \u201cThe incident remains under investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jul\/12\/yellowstone-bull-bison-throws-tourist-in-air\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">article<\/a> by Edward Helmore was first published by The Guardian on 12 July 2026. Lead Image: A bison in Yellowstone national park. 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The tourist was reported to be seriously injured by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1178,"featured_media":2206450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/40e401cb31f7b4dff75954b27d8df057452ca58d\/0_0_2048_1365\/master\/2048.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6985,5],"tags":[7432,1037,7793],"class_list":["post-2191950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wildlife","tag-bison","tag-wolves","tag-yellowstone-national-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2191950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2191950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2191950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2206450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2191950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2191950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2191950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}