Another Yellowstone “Touron” Gored by Bison After Getting Too Close
A Florida man gored by bison in Yellowstone National Park demonstrates once again that wildlife is indeed wild and should be respected.
As reported by NBC Montana, a 47-year-old man from Cape Coral, Florida, was gored by a bison on May 4 in the Lake Village area of Yellowstone National Park. The incident occurred when the man approached the bison too closely, and the animal reacted. The man was lucky only to sustain minor injuries receiving treatment from emergency personnel onsite. However, the incident is under investigation.
Unfortunately, news stories like this are all too common, and PetaPixel has reported on a number of human-wildlife conflicts with bison alone: 72-Year-Old Woman Gored by Bison in Yellowstone While Taking Pictures, Man Attacked by Bison After Taking Up-Close Photo with His iPad, Photographer Gets Way Too Close to Bison in Yellowstone Park, Moments Leading Up to Yellowstone Bison Attack Caught on Camera, Woman Flipped Into the Air After Selfie with Bison, among others, most of which result from human negligence in an attempt to get a selfie, or photograph an animal much closer than one should be.
All United States National Parks have guidelines in place as to how close visitors are allowed to get to wildlife. For example, Yellowstone National Park’s rules state that visitors must stay at least 100 yards (91 meters) away from bears and wolves, and at least 25 yards (23 meters) away from all other animals, including bison, elk, and moose.
In response to this latest bison attack, the National Park Service issued a warning to social media, repeating the guidelines and imploring visitors to take heed, to not approach wildlife too closely, and to back off if the animals move towards you.
In Yellowstone alone, officials report that between 2000 and 2015, 25 people have been injured by bison, with 56 injured by bison from 1978-1992, and two people died from bison attacks between 1978 and 1992.
“Despite these well-publicized warnings, stories of people approaching too close to animals, and sometimes being injured, appear every year,” writes the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) in a U.S. Geological Survey report on park safety.
“Over the history of the National Park, dating back to 1872, 2 people have been killed as a result of bison encounters and 8 from bear encounters (additional fatalities occurred outside the park boundaries). And over the past few decades, there have been an average of a few injuries per year due to human interactions with animals.
“During the same time period, since 1872, deaths related to hot springs are more than double those from bears and bison combined—22 people have lost their lives due to scalding (one additional fatality occurred just north of the park boundary, at LaDuke Hot Spring), and there have been hundreds of injuries,” YVO reports.
In May 2023, NBC Montana shared video taken by emergency room nurse Heidi Irby on vacation filmed tourists appearing to attempt to pet the Bison as they posed for pictures. Kirby shared that she looked on in horror, concerned that she was about to become a first responder.
Just weeks later, another woman went viral for a video showing her standing about a foot away from a bison as she took selfies with it. KTLA 5 News anchor Andy Reismyer calls the woman an “unnamed Darwin Award hopeful.”
Meanwhile, the TouronsOfYellowstone Instagram account is full of video clips showing “tourons” around Yellowstone demonstrating the worst human behavior.
For their part, the National Park Service continues to discourage visitors from attempting to interact with wildlife for their safety and the animal’s well-being.
Image credits: Cover image NPS / Jacob W. Frank
