A rampaging bison tossed a tourist more than eight feet into the air after chasing him around a copse of trees in Yellowstone National Park.
The shocking attack, which took place at the Bridge Bay Campground, south of Fishing Bridge, was caught on camera by a Montana-based photographer who was trying to get some footage of the bison after it stormed into the campground where he was staying.
The video shows the huge beast taking a dust bath, then eyeing up the man and his grandson. The bison stood up, and, at first, appeared to be more interested in a truck that was driving past before moving toward the man.
The older man evaded the bison for a few moments, but the animal fixed on him and then charged, launching him high into the air.
The bison was at least 6 feet tall, witnesses said, and the tourist was flipped well clear of him in the air.
“I had to get the bison’s attention,” said Mike MacLeod, the photographer who captured the attack.
“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 joined in, working with MacLeod to run the bison off so that they could help the injured tourist.
The man was seriously injured in the attack. Cowboy State Daily reported that the man’s grandson said he “has some pretty significant injuries and is not out of the woods yet.”
MacLeod said the viciousness of the bison’s attack shocked him.
“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.”
This is the second bison attack in Yellowstone this year, after a 12-year-old boy was attacked in late June.
Authorities say the man was at a safe distance from the bison, and it wasn’t his fault.
