‘Upset’ bison charges and chases family near Old Faithful in Yellowstone, video shows
A frustrated bison charged and chased a family in Yellowstone National Park, dramatic video shows.
The video, filmed from the perspective of another nearby group of visitors on a paved walkway, shows the bison thundering through a field — directly into a group of trees where the family had taken cover, according to a video the father posted to Instagram on Wednesday, July 17.
The people filming debate whether the bison might gallop toward them or pass by. It pauses for a moment and snorts.
“He’s really angry,” someone says. Almost as if on cue, the bison picks up speed again and grunts as he storms right into the trees where the family had taken cover.
“Oh no, oh no,” the person filming says. “Oh! It’s chasing the people!”
The family runs around the trees to evade the charging bison, the video shows. The father goes left and his daughter goes right, and they end up with the angry bison in between them.
The father repeatedly yells to his daughter not to move as the bison retreats back through the trees and heads toward two other people, then runs off into the forest.
“That guy is P.O.-ed,” the person filming says.
Then a second bison ambles over to the family, still hiding out in the trees.
“Here comes the other one,” someone says.
The second bison seems to investigate before taking off in the same direction as the first bison.
“That was crazy,” the person filming says.
“Here is the actual video with context about what happened to my family at Yellowstone National Park. One of the most visited parks in the world, while we were walking on a paved walkway,” he said in the video’s caption. “We saw the Bison from over 200 yards away while we just left the old faithful geyser. It was clearly upset running in our direction.”
The man describes how he walked his family behind the tree “to use it as a buffer” between them and the bison.
“As it passed us it turned and chased me,” he said. “When I saw my daughter coming around the other tree I decided to stop as I didn’t want the bison to hit her.”
Luckily the bison decided not to run into the father and instead turned around, he said.
“This was a case of wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. “The bison had just lost a rut to the second bison that follows a few moments later.”
Some in the comments criticized the family’s behavior, while others pointed out they handled the situation in the best way possible.
“Looks like those folks didn’t provoke the big shaggy as he came from quite a distance and caught them away from their vehicle,” someone said.
“He was most likely worked up because that other big bull was there and those people were not doing anything wrong,” someone else said. “Bulls are territorial. Glad no one was hurt.”
The father confirmed to Cowboy State Daily that no one was hurt in the incident. The outlet identified him only as Tom, visiting with his family earlier in July from Long Island, New York.
“Thankfully, all of us were okay,” he told the outlet. “This was a case of (the) wrong place at the wrong time. No one was injured, just a little shocked and shook up.”
What to know about bison
Multiple people have been injured by bison.
In June, a bison “defending its space” gored an 83-year-old tourist in Yellowstone, McClatchy News previously reported.
In April, a 40-year-old tourist was injured while harassing a bison herd in the park, McClatchy News reported.
A bison gored a 47-year-old woman when she turned to walk away from it in Yellowstone in 2023, McClatchy News reported.
“Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal,” park rangers said. “They are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans.”
Bison are huge animals that can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and run up to 30 mph, according to the park. Stay at least 75 feet away from bison at all times.
