The season for dangerous national park mistakes is here

A 47-year-old man suffered injuries at Yellowstone earlier this month.

May 13, 2025 - 22:18

The season for dangerous national park mistakes is here

With 63 national parks dotted throughout the United States, visitors from around the world travel to different ones to experience not just sprawling panoramas but also wildlife not found anywhere else.

Along with more common animals such as deer and elk, Yellowstone is one of the very few places in the world where visitors can see the living descendant of the North American buffalo. The national park spanning 3,472 square miles is home to over 5,000 bison, which start their migration toward better grazing areas in the spring.

At this time, many visitors come to the park to photograph herds of bison gathering together and crossing the same roads that are used by cars — a spellbinding sight that, if one disregards certain safety measures, can also put some in particularly dangerous situations.

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'Move away to always maintain these safe viewing distances'

On May 4, a visitor to Yellowstone's Lake Village area got too close to a bison — the official National Park Service (NPS) recommendation is to keep at least 25 yards or 23 meters of distance — and ended up getting gored.

According to the report, the 47-year-old man from Florida's Cape Coral sustained minor injuries and was treated by the medical team onsite; he was the first to get gored by a bison since the start of 2025.

"Wild animals can be aggressive if people don’t respect their space," the NPS wrote further. "[...] If wildlife approach you, move away to always maintain these safe viewing distances."

The NPS said that the park saw two incidents of bison goring a visitor in 2024 and one in 2023. One of the 2024 accidents occurred when an 83-year-old South Carolina woman hiking through Yellowstone's Storm Point Trail was caught off guard when a bison snuck up from behind and “lifted her about a foot off the ground with his horns."

NPS warns tourists yet again: 'Bison are unpredictable'

The woman sustained serious injuries and had to be flown to the nearby Eastern Idaho Medical Center by helicopter.

While his injuries were not severe enough to classify as being gored, 40-year-old Idaho Falls man Clarence Yoder was arrested and banned from the park for kicking a bison among a herd crossing the road where he was driving his car a few months earlier.

With May bringing with it both peak park-visiting period and the time of year when bison cross the park grounds in search of better grazing spots, the NPS has reiterated its warning to keep a safe distance from wildlife and respect basic safety rules. These include not teasing them for photo opportunities and backing away quietly if you come upon one by accident. Most of the fatal human-wildlife incidents occur during the late spring and early summer months.

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"Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal," the NPS page on wildlife safety reads. "Bison are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans. [...] Give bison space when they are near a campsite, trail, boardwalk, parking lot, or in a developed area. If need be, turn around and go the other way to avoid interacting with a wild animal in close proximity."