People keep getting gored by bison. Experts weigh in on why, how to stay safe and what happens to the body.
An Arizona resident, Amber Harris, is recovering in a hospital after being gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park on July 17.
Harris opened up about her experience on Facebook after revealing that she got engaged while in the hospital. "We woke up our first morning and walked down to the lodge for some coffee, then decided [to] take a walk through a field to get to Yellowstone Lake," Harris wrote. "There were a few other people and about 20 elk roaming around, so we waited for them to clear before walking through the field."
Harris said that she and her family noticed two bison on their way to the lake, "one on the path we were walking and the other in the opposite direction."
"We stopped and looked at the massive beast, about 50 yards away on the trail, hidden at first in the shadows of the [trees]," she wrote. "We watched him drop and roll in the dirt, like a dog would. He got up on his feet and started walking, then running towards us."
After being gored by the bison, Harris shared that she was "carried out of the field on a stretcher to an ambulance and then transferred to a helicopter for a life flight to Idaho." She wrote that she was on pain medication and had suffered spinal fractures, two collapsed lungs and "bruising all over," before adding, "Glory to God all my vital organs look good."
Unfortunately, Harris isn't the first person to be gored by a bison in recent years. Last year, a 25-year-old woman was gored by a bison after getting within 10 feet of the animal, according to a press release from park officials. "Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal," the press release said.
In 2020, a 72-year-old woman was gored after approaching a bison multiple times to take a photo, park officials said. And in 2018, a 59-year-old woman was gored by a bison after getting too close in a crowd, suffering a hip injury, per park officials.
What's going on? Here's the deal.
Why does this keep happening?
A lot seems to be due to people getting too close to the animals, Paul Curtis, a professor of wildlife science at Cornell University, tells Yahoo Life. "People are amazed when they see these large, charismatic mammals," he says. "Often, people want to get excellent photos of their experience to share with others. So, they get too close to the animal and elicit an aggressive response."
Bison, along with other wildlife, have a wide range of potential behaviors, Curtis says. "As with people, some individual animals might have a less tolerant and more grumpy disposition," he says. "They may not tolerate people repeatedly approaching them trying to get a good photo."
A mother bison who is with her calf may also feel the need to protect her baby, he says. "There are several different situations that may trigger an aggressive response from an animal such as a bison," Curtis says. "The situation is usually caused by people doing something to make the animal feel threatened or annoyed."
A publicist for Yellowstone National Park tells Yahoo Life that the latest goring is "under investigation."
How do you stay safe around bison?
Yellowstone park regulations require that people stay at least 25 yards from all wildlife (including bison) and at least 100 yards from bears and wolves. "Disregarding these regulations can result in fines, injury and even death," the Yellowstone website states. The park also notes that "bison are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans."
What does it mean to be gored? Is it always fatal?
"Technically, goring refers to being pierced or stabbed by the horn or tusk of an animal," Dr. Nicholas Kman, an emergency medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life. In the case of bison, goring can cause "deep puncture wounds up to abdominal evisceration," he says, adding, "This can be commonly seen in the thighs or buttocks, as the victim is running from the animal."
People may also suffer blunt trauma from the bison's head as they're butted or shoved, Kman says. "This can even cause the victim to be tossed into the air, which results in a ground impact, which can result in trauma," he says. "One case report showed a woman that was tossed 10 feet into the air, landing on her back and sustaining multiple rib fractures and a pelvis fracture."
Goring is not always fatal, but it can be, Dr. Michael Levine, associate professor of emergency medicine at UCLA Health, tells Yahoo Life. "It depends on where someone is gored," he says.
How does goring impact the body?
"If you're gored on the leg, you're probably much less likely to have serious injuries, whereas if you're gored in your chest or abdomen, you're more likely to have serious injuries," Levine says.
As Curtis points out, "The bison horns are sharp, and a large animal with a lot of force can drive a horn deep into the body cavity. Lungs and other organs could be punctured or torn, bones would likely be broken and blood vessels damaged that could result in substantial bleeding, either externally or internally." A person may struggle to breathe if their lung is punctured and if a major artery is torn, the person could have "substantial blood loss" that could lead to death, he says.
People usually need to be hospitalized and may need surgery, Kman says. "These injuries can also get infected and often need antibiotics and hospital admission," he adds. "Bison have injured more pedestrian visitors to Yellowstone National Park than any other animal, and some of these have been fatal."
Harris hasn't shared an update to her condition since her Facebook post on July 18, but she ended on this note: "Please pray for my healing."
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