California Woman Gored By Bison At Yellowstone After Repeatedly Getting Too Close To Take Photos

A California woman was gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park on June 25, after she repeatedly got within ten feet of the animal in order to take pictures.

The unnamed woman was 72-years-old and suffered “multiple goring wounds.” She received immediate medical attention from park rangers and then was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

The incident occurred less than six weeks after the park reopened following its COVID-19 shutdown and is not the first injury that has occurred since the park reopened. Two days after Yellowstone reopened, a woman was “knocked to the ground and injured” by a bison in the Old Faithful Upper Geyser Basin after getting within 25 yards of it.

In a statement, Yellowstone’s senior bison biologist Chris Geremia said, “The series of events that led to the goring suggest the bison was threatened by being repeatedly approached to within ten feet. Bison are wild animals that respond to threats by displaying aggressive behaviors like pawing the ground, snorting, bobbing their head, bellowing, and raising their tail.”

Geremia warned guested to “stay at least 25 yards away” from the wild bison and to “move away if they approach, and run away or find cover if they charge.”