A Yellowstone Bison Just Attacked an SUV

Traffic came to a standstill earlier this week in crowded Yellowstone National Park as a bison attacked a vehicle whose driver tried to sneak their way through a maze of cars. On July 20, video footage shows a bull bison weaving through bumper-to-bumper traffic. As one car inched forward, the animal charged, popping the tire with its horn.

“The bison was just meandering from side to side on the road. All of the cars are stopped, and he’s minding his own business,” Troy Isdahl, who was visiting the park from North Dakota, told Outside. When the bison turned off the roadway, the car ahead of Isdahl’s moved forward, then slammed on its brakes.

“I guess the bison took offense to that,” Troy said.

Moments later, the animal lowered its head and rammed the vehicle’s front passenger-side tire. Isdahl’s wife, Tonya Names, captured the encounter on video from behind the vehicle in her passenger seat.

“You could hear the pfft and just see the tire go down,” Names told Outside.

With roughly 5,000 bison—and even more tourists—in the park, the incident illustrates one of the most important safety lessons in Yellowstone: even seemingly calm animals can respond quickly if they feel threatened. Earlier this month, a bison attacked a 65-year-old man and then tossed him eight feet in the air. In June, a 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano and transferred to a nearby hospital to treat injuries.

According to witnesses, the attacking bull was on the road in the park’s centrally located Hayden Valley, an area where large numbers of bison congregate in late summer as mating season begins. During this time, mature bulls compete for mates and defend their personal space more aggressively than at other times of the year.

Isdahl said there were two bulls in the area when the event occurred, with the second a little further off the road. But he didn’t think the animal was seeking confrontation. From his perspective, the bull reacted after the driver got too close to its head.

“It was just doing bison things. It could have gotten worse,” he said. Isdahl and his wife continued driving after the encounter to help clear traffic. They also knew that it was safer to keep their distance from the animal.

“We knew a ranger would come by,” Isdahl said. “But no one’s going to get out with a bison meandering around.”