Bison Hurls Grandfather Eight Feet Into The Air After Charging Children In Yellowstone National Park

Interesting bison, injury, national park service, yellowstone national park admin July 16, 2026 0 Comments

Bison Hurls Grandfather Eight Feet Into The Air After Charging Children In Yellowstone National Park

A bison tossed a grandfather eight feet into the air after charging children at a Yellowstone National Park campground Friday, according to video captured at the scene.

The footage, filmed by professional photographer Mike MacLeod and published by Cowboy State Daily, shows a white-bearded man standing with a child and snapping pictures of a bison. MacLeod said the incident occurred at Bridge Bay Campground and he recorded it. The creature apparently became agitated, thrashing around before rising to its feet and barreling through the campground toward the man. The animal pursued the man around a clump of trees before catching him with his horns, tossing him eight feet into the air and flipping him over.

MacLeod told the Cowboy State Daily that he saw the bison charge at a group of children prior to the attack. He started filming to capture “dramatic footage” but jumped into action to distract the animal after it tossed the man.

“I charged the bison, yelling and screaming and kind of been trying to put my camera up in the air,” MacLeod told CBS News. “And a bunch of other men joined me, and we successfully hazed the bison off of the, the victim.”

The grandfather and his grandson were standing at least 100 yards away from the bison before the animal charged, a distance the National Park Service would have considered safe, the Cowboy State Daily reported. The grandson was not injured in the attack. MacLeod told MTN News that the man joked with him after the incident despite high levels of pain in his leg, according to USA Today.

“When he was down on the ground, after things were settling down a little bit, I said, ‘Hey you know as a former U.S. Army paratrooper, I give that landing like a 9.5. out of 10,’” Macleod recalled. “[A]nd he’s like, ‘Well if you just caught me 5 years ago, I could’ve done better.’”

The injured man was 65.

The grandfather was hospitalized and received surgery for his injuries, his family told NBC News. MacLeod, who has remained in contact with the family, said the man had a broken leg in multiple places. “The doctors said that he probably would recover but it’s going to be a long recovery,” the photographer told the outlet. (RELATED: Bear Attacks Two Hikers, Officials Shut Down Parts Of Yellowstone National Park)

This incident comes as the second bison-related injury in Yellowstone during the bison mating season, following the hospitalization of a 12-year-old child after an encounter with a bison in late June, according to the National Park Service. The mating season, which stretches from June to September, causes bulls to express extra energy and aggression as they compete over females.

Multiple bison attacks also resulted in serious injuries in the park last year, CBS News reported. A New Jersey man was gored by a bison near the famous geyser Old Faithful, and a Florida man was gored in the park’s Lake Village restaurant area.

Bison, America’s largest land mammal, can weigh over 2,000 pounds, reach speeds of 40 miles per hour and jump up to six feet high, according to the National Park Service (NPS) website. Visitors to Yellowstone are advised to remain 25 yards away from bison, elk, and other wildlife and at least 100 yards away from bears, wolves and cougars, CBS News reported.