A massive bull bison tossed a tourist into the air, seriously injuring him, in a heart-pounding caught-on-camera attack at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
Video shows the unidentified man being thrown 8 feet in the air like a ragdoll by the wild bison at the Bridge Bay Campground Friday, Cowboy State Daily reported.
The tourist was walking with his grandson when the powerful herbivore attacked.
Video shows the man running around a copse of pines to try to escape the bull, which was giving itself a dust bath moments earlier.
The bison suddenly charged the two tourists, and then viciously head-butted the older bearded man — catapulting him into the air.
“I was just trying to get some dramatic footage of that bison having a fit. It’s changed my idea of what to expect from these guys at this time of year, because I would not have predicted that happening,” Montana-based photographer Mike MacLeod, who took the pictures, told Cowboy State Daily.
“He [the bison] started walking through the campground. He was coming up to this group of kids, who were taking pictures on their cellphones from a good distance away, and then the buffalo charged these kids,” MacLeod said.
The photographer stepped in to try to scare off the animal.
“I had to get the bison’s attention. I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.
When the bison was gone, MacLeod and others rushed to help the victim.
The man was in a lot of pain, particularly in his hips and the leg he landed on, but MacLeod and others couldn’t see any external injuries.
“One guy held his hand. Another guy pulled security on the outside to make sure that the bison didn’t come back. A gal in a car was on the phone with 911, and another gal did a blood sweep, but we couldn’t find any blood,” MacLeod said.
No update has been released on the condition of the man tossed by the bison.
MacLeod said the bison likely attacked because it was feeling territorial due to the current rutting season, which runs between June and September.
During this time, male bison can show extra energy and aggression as they compete for dominance and females.
“You can tell [the bison] was agitated, pissed off, and charging anything and everything,” MacLeod added.