Witnesses say she got to within 10 feet of the animal in an effort to photograph it
A bison gored a California woman at Yellowstone National Park after she got too close to it in an effort to take a photo.
USA Today reports park rangers administered on-site medical care to the 72-year-old woman before she was flown by helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. The attack occured on June 25 at her Bridge Bay Campground campsite.
The series of events that led to the goring suggest the bison was threatened by being repeatedly approached to within 10 feet, Yellowstone's senior bison biologist Chris Geremia said in a statement. 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. If that doesn't make the threat (in this instance it was a person) move away, a threatened bison may charge.
Geremia recommends staying at least 25 yards away. "Move away if they approach, and run away or find cover if they charge."
Another Yellowstone visitor was knocked to the ground and injured by a bison on May 20 when she approached the animal too closely in the Old Faithful Upper Geyser Basin.
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