Grandfather thrown more than 2m in air by charging bison
A photographer captured the horrifying moment when 65-year-old Carl McDaniel was attacked by the animal.
A group of campers in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park got the shock of their lives on Friday, 10 July.
A bull bison reportedly weighing around 900kg was roaming around the campground, appearing visibly agitated and charging at various groups of campers.
The crowd tried to remain as far away from the animal as possible; however, the situation escalated quickly.
The bison started chasing Carl McDaniel, who had been standing next to his grandson, but he couldn't outrun the angry beast.
Mr McDaniel was rammed by the bison and knocked over 2,4 metres into the air.
A professional photographer, Mike MacLeod, who had coincidentally been filming the entire interaction, managed to capture the moment on video.
Watch the video below:
@newsweek Dramatic footage captured the moment an enraged bull bison tossed a tourist around 8 feet into the air at a campground in #Yellowstone National Park. #news #Newsweek ♬ original sound - Newsweek
According to multiple reports, Mr McDaniel sustained multiple injuries and is in a lot of pain, but luckily survived the attack.
BBC News spoke to Jennifer Barfield, the scientific lead at Colorado's Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd, who explained that "July happens to overlap with the animal's mating season - the 'peak breeding' period where testosterone levels among bulls are heightened."
That's really going to drive their behaviour, and they're going to be potentially more unpredictable than at other times of the year.
Unfortunately, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
MacLeod spoke to CNN about the incident and also provided more insight, saying no one expected this to happen:
McDaniel has now shared his side of the story with CNN as well and given an update on his recovery.
“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.
“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so".
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Image: @Breaking911/X