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Well, it happened again. We made over four months before someone got gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park, but now it’s happened twice in the span of about a month.
Last month it was a Florida man who was gored by a bison. This latest incident occurred when a 30-year-old New Jersey man, you guessed it, he reportedly got too close to the animal.
According to Yellowstone National Park, the man from Randolph, New Jersey was gored by a bison while he was with a large group of visitors that approached it too closely. They were visiting the Upper Geyser Basin at Old Faithful when the attack occurred.
The unnamed man reportedly received minor injuries and was treated and transported by emergency medical personnel. Authorities are now investigating the incident.
Last month, a 47-year-old man from Cape Coral, Florida was gored so strongly by a bison at Yellowstone that he was reportedly lifted off the ground by the animal’s horns. He too somehow escaped with only minor injuries.
The bison in Yellowstone National Park can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and are very fast. Which is why Yellowstone points out on the park’s website, “It is your responsibility to stay more than 25 yards (23 meters) away from all large animals – bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes – and at least 100 yards (91 meters) away from bears, wolves, and cougars. If wildlife approach you, move away to always maintain these safe viewing distances.”
The park also points out that “bison will defend their space when threatened and have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal. They are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans.”
Last summer, two people were reported to have been injured by bison at Yellowstone National Park. One was an 83-year-old woman from Greenville, South Carolina who was gored by the bison and serious injured when it lifted her a foot off the ground. The other was a man who was reportedly drunk when he decided to approach a herd of bison then kicked one of them in the leg. In his case, he not only did he suffer minor injuries, he was arrested.