Bison gores Arizona woman visiting Yellowstone

By Raja Razek and Zoe Sottile | CNN

A bison gored a 47-year-old Arizona woman Monday morning in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, leaving her with significant injuries to her chest and abdomen, park officials said.

The woman was walking with another person in a field near the Lake Lodge Cabins on Yellowstone Lake’s north shore when they saw two bison, the park said in a news release.

The people turned to walk away from the bison, but one of the animals charged and gored the woman, the release reads.

A helicopter took the woman to a hospital in Idaho. Details about the woman’s condition weren’t available, according to the release.

“It is unknown how close the individuals were to the bison when it charged,” the release reads. “This incident remains under investigation.”

Yellowstone was home to about 5,900 bison as of summer 2022, according to the National Park Service. The large herbivores have lived continuously in the area of the park since prehistoric times, despite almost going extinct during the 20th century, according to the service.

Females can weigh up to 1,000 pounds, and males can weigh as many as 2,000 pounds.

Yellowstone visitors should stay more than 25 yards from bison and other large animals, the news release reads. Bison can “become more agitated more quickly” during their mating season, which falls from mid-July through mid-August, and can run three times faster than humans, according to the release.

This is the first bison-related incident this year, according to the release. The last reported incident took place on June 28, 2022, when a bison gored a person in the park.