A dramatic encounter at Bridge Bay Campground left a grandfather seriously injured and serves as a stark reminder that during the summer mating season, wild animals don’t follow the 100-yard rule.
(Photo: Ruben Earth/Getty Images)
Published July 13, 2026 02:55PM
Dramatic footage out of Yellowstone National Park shows the moment a bison chargeda 65-year-old man and then tossed him eight feet in the air. An onlooker said the man, whose identity has not been released, kept a safe distance from the bison prior to the incident.
In an email to Outside, the National Park Service (NPS) said the man was injured on the evening of July 10 at Bridge Bay Campground, a high-elevation area with 432 campsites located near Yellowstone Lake.
“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital. There are no further details to share,” a spokesperson told Outside.
Bison are the largest land mammal in North America, according to the NPS. Male bison can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and stand six feet tall, and historically have injured more people in the park than any other animal.
“The man in the photo is a grandfather who was out walking in the evening with his grandson. The two were a respectful distance from this bull bison, but the bison attacked anyway,” photographer Mike MacLeod, who witnessed the incident, wrote on Instagram. “The man was chased around the trees a few times and then launched into the air. Several campers rushed to the man’s aid after hazing off the bull.”
In an interview with the Wyoming-based newspaper Cowboy State Daily, MacLeod said the bull initially charged a group of kids who were taking photos with their cell phones “a good distance away.” The Bozeman, Montana-based photographer said the bison ran through the campground, romped around in a patch of dirt, and then charged a white pickup truck that apparently set the bison off. After charging the truck, the bull redirected to the man and his grandson.
“The bison hooked him with his left horn on his hip and tossed him in the air,” MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. “He made a perfect flip and landed on his side. The bison was at least six feet tall, and (the victim) was several feet above him.”
Wild animals can be aggressive and unpredictable, but based on the video, it does not appear that the man did anything to aggravate the bison. The NPS recommends visitors stay at least 25 yards away from all large animals, including bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose and coyotes, and at least 100 yards away from bears, wolves and cougars.
“If wildlife approach you, move away to maintain the required distance. Never approach, touch, feed or crowd wildlife, even if an animal appears calm,” NPS wrote. “Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal. They are unpredictable, can run three times faster than humans, and will defend their space when threatened.
The incident marks the second human-bison incident this year. In June, a 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano. Medical responders transferred the child to a nearby hospital to treat injuries they sustained, NPS wrote in a statement.
July lands in the middle of the Yellowstone bison rut, or mating season, which lasts until September, according to the NPS. During a short window, typically between June and September, bison testosterone levels soar and these normally passive grazers become noticeably more violent and aggressive.
Learn more about safety while visiting Yellowstone, including how to behave around wildlife, here.
