A 43-year old woman was attacked by a bison at the Yellowstone National Park recently, and the reason was attributed to her attempting to snap a selfie with the majestic beast. Thankfully, she was not seriously injured, and chances are her pride would have been the biggest casualty after she was released from the Old Faithful Clinic with minor injuries. What’s even more surprising is, she happens to be the fifth person to be injured in 2015 alone after approaching a bison, where three out of those five incidents involved some sort of photo taking.
The bison was around 6 yards away from the woman and her daughter’s trail, and despite being warned by someone that they were too close, they continued anyway. After hearing and seeing the bison charge in their direction, they ran – but the mother was caught on the right side, before she was tossed in the air. Thankfully, the bison did not follow up with any other attacks.
Colleen Rawlings, Old Faithful District Ranger, shared, “The family said they read the warnings in both the park literature and the signage, but saw other people close to the bison, so they thought it would be OK. People need to recognize that Yellowstone wildlife is wild, even though they seem docile. This woman was lucky that her injuries were not more severe.”
Do bear in mind that one should not approach an animal closer than the required minimum distances: 25 yards (23 m) away from all large animals – bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose, and coyotes and at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves. After all, bisons are able to run at thrice the speed of a human sprint, so any thought of outrunning it should be banished. This is not a movie, and you can always read up on further park safety here. Also, Russia’s “Death by Selfie” might also make some sense.
The above image is meant for illustrative purposes only, and does not depict any of the parties involved in the news item. [Press Release]
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