A 65-year-old grandfather from Washington state has been identified as the tourist tossed 8 feet into the air by a bison at Yellowstone National Park, an encounter captured on video that has garnered over a million views on social media.
Victim Identified as Community-Minded Grandfather
Carl McDaniel, from Kendall, Washington, suffered severe injuries including broken bones after the incident on Friday at the Bridge Bay Campground near Lake Yellowstone. According to the Cascadia Daily News, McDaniel serves on several community boards in East Whatcom County, including a community alliance for rural communications and the Columbia Valley water and parks districts.
McDaniel was visiting Yellowstone with his grandson, who was unharmed in the attack. The bull bison, estimated at 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms), was described as "agitated, pissed off" by a witness.
Witness Account of the Attack
Mike MacLeod, a former combat photographer with a degree in wildlife biology, recorded the incident and later rushed to help McDaniel. He told the New York Times that McDaniel was in good spirits despite his injuries. "He was in a lot of pain with his leg, and otherwise he was conscious the whole time, in good spirits, joking," MacLeod said.
MacLeod emphasized that McDaniel and his grandson were at a "respectful distance" from the animal and did nothing to provoke the charge. "Most people see that these two did not ask for it," he said. He noted that later in the park he witnessed "half a dozen far more dangerous instances where people were way closer and being aggressive."
National Park Service Safety Guidelines
The National Park Service (NPS) advises visitors to stay 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," the park's website states. "It's illegal to willfully remain near or approach wildlife, including birds, within any distance that disturbs or displaces the animal."
Bison rutting season in Yellowstone runs from June through September, but the NPS could not confirm if that contributed to the animal's aggression on Friday. In a statement, the NPS said: "A 65-year-old man was injured by a bison on the evening of [10 July] at Bridge Bay Campground near Lake Yellowstone in Yellowstone national park. Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital. There are no further details to share."
Aftermath and Recovery
The Cascadia Daily News reported that McDaniel was recovering in hospital on Monday, and family members told NBC News he was undergoing surgery. MacLeod appeared on NBC's Today show on Monday, recounting how the bison initially charged at a pickup truck before redirecting its attack toward McDaniel and his grandson. "It went from a little bit of amusing to watch to critical emergency," he said. "I stopped the video because I could see that [the] bison was standing over him and was pumping his head, very aggressive and agitated. And I knew that somebody had to distract that thing."
The bison was eventually chased off by a group of people, including other campers at Bridge Bay Campground near Yellowstone Lake in the southeast of the park.
