A 12-year-old was taken to an area hospital after being hurt by a bison Friday near Mud Volcano, which is just north of Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park.
The National Park Service announced the incident in a statement, but did not reveal much information, including the child’s gender, the extent of the injuries or what led up to the child’s altercation with the bison.
The incident happened at about 9:15 a.m., the agency reports.
“The visitor sustained injuries, and emergency medical personnel transported them to a nearby hospital,” according to the NPS statement. “The incident remains under investigation."
Watch For The Tail Raise
Biologist George Wuerthner told Cowboy State Daily that bison frequently signal irritation with body language, specifically “if they stick their tail up in the air.”
“That’s how they indicate to the herd that something is wrong,” he said, adding that it’s similar to white-tailed deer raising their tails to signal danger.
As to what might have caused the bison to attack the child, Wuerthner said that without a detailed account of the incident, that could be difficult to determine.
“The usual thing is people getting too close” to bison, said Wuerthner, who has worked in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for decades and is president of the Montana Wild Bison Coalition.
Not Cattle
Yellowstone bison are used to having crowds around them, so they might seem somewhat complacent around people, but park visitors shouldn’t take that for granted, Wuerthner said.
“People tend to think of them like cattle,” he said. "But then again, cattle hurt people too, so that’s not a good assumption to make."
According to park rules, people should stay back at least 100 yards from wolves and bears, and 25 yards away from other wildlife, including bison.
Frequent Yellowstone visitor and wildlife photographer April Holm told Cowboy State Daily that she’d previously seen some spooky bison activity in the same general area where the child was reportedly injured.
A couple of weeks ago “we saw a very spicy bison, and a guy almost got gored by him,” she stated in a text message.
“I wonder if it’s the same one (bison),” she added. "I don’t know exactly where the kid got hurt, so I’m not saying it’s the same one.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
