An enraged 2,000lb (900kg) bull bison hooked a tourist and tossed him 8ft into the air at a campsite in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park on Friday. The encounter was captured by a professional photographer who described the animal as “agitated, pissed off and charging anything and everything.”
The tourist was reportedly seriously injured by the male bison while walking with his grandson through the Bridge Bay campground, south of Fishing Bridge. The National Park Service (NPS), which administers Yellowstone, has not released details about the attack.
Photographer’s account of the attack
Mike MacLeod, a professional photographer from Bozeman, Montana, gave a vivid account to Wyoming’s Cowboy State Daily newspaper and provided video of the attack, which the outlet published on YouTube. MacLeod was camping with his wife when she spotted the bison approaching.
“I was just trying to get some dramatic footage of that bison having a fit,” MacLeod said. “It’s changed my idea of what to expect from these guys at this time of year, because I would not have predicted that happening.”
The bison, according to MacLeod, “started 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.” MacLeod said the bison kept running through the campground while campers yelled and screamed to warn each other.
Sequence of the incident
MacLeod’s video shows the grandfather and grandson each pulling out cellphone cameras and pointing them at the bison from dozens of yards away before the animal started to get up. MacLeod reported: “The grandfather’s like, ‘OK, time to leave,’ and they moved off behind these trees.”
The bison was then distracted by a pickup truck and charged it, prompting the driver to speed off. “The guy in the truck saw that happening, and he just kept going,” said MacLeod, adding that the bison turned its attention to where the man and his grandson “were hiding in the trees.”
The grandson managed to flee while the bison chased the grandfather around some trees and flipped him. “The bison hooked him with his left horn on his hip and tossed him in the air,” MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. “He made a perfect flip and landed on his side. The bison was at least 6ft tall, and the victim was several feet above him.”
Aftermath and safety warnings
MacLeod said he tried to distract the bison: “I 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.” Other bystanders did the same, and the bison fled. The wounded man’s grandson told MacLeod that the grandfather “has some pretty significant injuries and is not out of the woods yet.”
Yellowstone officials warn on the park’s website that the animals “are wild and dangerous, no matter how docile they may appear to be.” The best way to view them is from inside a car. Officials advise staying at least 100 yards (90 meters) away from bears, wolves, and cougars, and a minimum of 25 yards from all other animals, including bison and elk. “If an animal moves closer to you, back away to maintain a safe distance. It’s illegal to willfully remain near or approach wildlife, including birds, within any distance that disturbs or displaces the animal,” the park’s website states.
MacLeod noted that the injured man was following park suggestions when attacked. “I didn’t see anybody getting close. People were yelling, ‘Careful, there’s a bison coming through,’ and they kept their distance. They were very respectful.” The attack occurred during bison rutting season, when males seek to show off physical prowess in contests for mating. “You can tell he was agitated, pissed off and charging anything and everything,” MacLeod said.
Second bison incident in 2026
Cowboy State Daily reported this was Yellowstone’s 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. “The visitor sustained injuries, and emergency medical personnel transported them to a nearby hospital,” the NPS said in a statement. “The incident remains under investigation.”
