An Arizona woman thought she was doing the right thing.
When the 47-year-old Phoenix resident and another individual came upon a pair of bison in a field Monday morning at Yellowstone National Park, they abruptly stopped their stroll, turned and walked away.
It wasn’t enough.
One of the two large animals charged and gored the woman, and park officials believe mating season may have played a key role.
The battering marked the first bison-human attack in 13 months at the park. The incident happened, coincidentally, during National Bison Month.
The unidentified woman suffered “significant injuries to her chest and abdomen” and was airlifted about 165 miles southwest to a medical facility in Idaho Falls, according to park officials in a statement on Monday.
There was no update on the woman’s condition, and park officials did not immediately respond to a call or email asking for more information.
The attack took place near the Lake Lodge cabins on Yellowstone Lake’s north shore, near the northwestern tip of Wyoming.
The incident is being investigated by park officials, who said in Monday’s statement that it was “unknown how close the individuals were to the bison when it charged.”
Mid-July is the beginning of mating season, which generally lasts a month, according to park officials. Bison are easier to agitate during this time.
The animals “are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans,” Yellowstone officials say.
Male bison can weigh up to a ton, while females are about half that size.
There were roughly 5,900 bison in Yellowstone as of last summer, with about 4,460 in a breeding herd toward the northern part of the park.
The animals are herbivores, primarily eating grass and sedges, and can run up to 30 mph.
Yellowstone is the only place in the contiguous 48 states where free-ranging bison have been found since the prehistoric age.
Monday’s attack was the first since a Colorado Springs man was gored on June 27, 2022, near Giant Geyser. The 34-year-old was walking with his family and suffered an undisclosed injury to his arm.
Not long before that, a 25-year-old Grove City, Ohio, woman was also gored. In the May 30 incident, she walked too close to a bison at the Black Sand Basin. She was tossed 10 feet into the air and suffered a puncture wound, among other injuries.
Park officials recommend staying at least 25 yards away from all large mammals, such as bison and sheep, and at least 100 yards away from predators such as wolves and bears.
