A California woman has been gored by a bison in Yellowstone National Park/Kurt Repanshek file
A California woman was gored by a bison in Yellowstone National Park, just the latest incident of park visitors getting too close to wildlife in the park.
Park staff said Kim Hancock, 59, of Santa Rosa, was gored near Fountain Paint Pot in the park's Lower Geyser Basin on Wednesday morning.
"Hancock and a crowd of people approached within ten yards of the bison while walking along a boardwalk. At one point, people were closer than 15 feet from the bison," the park release said. "When it crossed the boardwalk, the bison became agitated and charged the crowd, goring Hancock. The bison immediately left the area."
Ms. Hancock was initially treated at the scene for a hip injury, and then taken by ambulance to the Big Sky Medical Center in Big Sky, Montana, in good condition.
Earlier this week two women were attacked by cow elk that felt their calves were being threated.
"Animals in Yellowstone are wild and unpredictable, no matter how calm they appear to be. Give animals space when they’re near trails, boardwalks, parking lots, or in developed areas," park staff say. "Always stay at least 100 yards (91 m) away from bears and wolves, and at least 25 yards (23 m) away from all other animals, including bison and elk. If you can’t maintain these distances, turn around and find an alternate route. Read more about safety in the park."
On May 1, a 72-year-old Idaho woman was butted in the thigh, pushed, and tossed off a trail by a bison in the Old Faithful area.
There now have been two visitors gored by bison in the park this year. There was one incident in 2017 and five in 2015.
Comments
I do wish there was more of a ranger presence preventing people from approaching wildlife and from leaving trails in dangerous thermal areas. I watch someone get within touching distance of wildlife almost daily, I have seen people try to pet or feed elk and bison in the park, run full speed toward them to get photos, etc The average person sadly cannot be expected to obey the signage without a uniformed ranger present.
It's called weeding the herd. If you are not intelligent to follow the rules posted then you get to suffer the consequences. Like when I told my children to not touch the stove because it was HOT they did it once and never did it again.
While I NEVER wish anyone to get hurt, there are just some people who cannot learn without experiencing. I understand that when a sign in a national park says NO (don't touch, don't feed, don't look down the geyser) they are saying NO for a reason. If I fail to follow the rules I have noone to blame but my own foolishness.
Unfortunately, there isn't enough money to maintain the parks adequately, much less to pay rangers for all the trails.
It doesn't matter how many rangers they have on staff. The problem is, the people themselves. When are people going to realize that these are wild animals and exercise some common sense? Never. Instead of trying to blame it on lack of rangers, how about we hold people accountable for their actions?
I am sorry about another incident involving a wild animal and a human. It is impossible for the rangers to be everywhere there is a possible danger.
I direct you to budget cuts for parks. In fact you should be happy some sort of drilling or mining companies haven't yet set up business to ruin Yellowstone! People are warned by signs and should be by social media or word of mouth in the park. Some will ignore warnings and common sense anyway and now they're paying a price!
stupid stupid people
Rangers can't cure stupidity.