Yellowstone National Park couldn't even go a full 48 hours before a tourist became the park's third bison gore victim of the season. The National Park Service confirmed the third attack of the season happened on June 29. Authorities confirmed a 71-year-old Pennsylvanian was the victim this time. Once again, the animal responsible was a bull bison who gored the woman near Storm Point on Yellowstone Lake.
In a National Park Service release, officials state the woman was accompanied by her daughter and that they were returning to their vehicle parked at a trailhead. The two women apparently approached the bison "inadvertently" when the animal charged. Park officials are currently investigating the matter further. They report the woman was transported to West Park Hospital in Cody where she was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
This incident happened just two days after a man was gored by a bison near Old Faithful Geyser. That attack was captured on video and has since gone viral. Authorities are also still investigating that incident, although it seems likely that it was the result of people getting too close to the animal based on what the video shows. The first attack of the season happened on May 30 when a woman got too close to a bison on a boardwalk near Giant Geyser.
Bison are the most common animals to encounter within Yellowstone and many tourists mistakenly think of the animals as docile when they see them feeding in the fields and on roadways. The park has rules requiring visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison, elk, deer, and sheep. For large predators like wolves and bears, the park asks guests to stay at least 100 yards away.
Where possible, park rangers do make sure those rules are followed, but with hundreds of square miles of wilderness, they can't be everywhere at once. Every year, the park has several incidents involving people who wander too close.
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