Bison 'Move Faster Than You Could Ever Imagine'

A Yellowstone tourist seemed to do everything right—and still ended up airborne. Carl Isom-McDaniel is recovering from multiple broken bones after a bison charged and tossed him while he was walking with his grandson in the park, an encounter captured on video. From his hospital bed in Bozeman, Montana, he tells KTVQ that the animal had appeared calm when he paused to take a photo and then walked away. Moments later, the bison fixed on him, chased him around a tree, and launched him into the air. "They move faster than you could ever imagine," he said. "It picked a target. That target happened to be me."

ZooMontana assistant curator Allyson Welborn notes that the incident happened during the bison rut, the midsummer breeding period when males are more aggressive and unpredictable. Welborn said Isom-McDaniel did "everything right" by keeping his distance and moving on, but added that during mating season she wouldn't leave her vehicle near bison at all. Yellowstone officials say the animal will not be moved or killed, a decision both Welborn and Isom-McDaniel support. A photographer previously told News Nation that Isom-McDaniel told his 13-year-old grandson to get clear while he distracted the oncoming animal. "He saved his grandson's life," says Mike MacLeod.