Wow, that appears to be real, despite the fact the man looks right out of the "Grandpas-R-Us" casting agency. I hope he's OK, but I do kinda want to put it in fast motion and add a Benny Hill soundtrack.

Massive bull bison tosses Yellowstone tourist into the air like a ragdoll in shocking attack

Story by Anthony Blair

• 1h •

2 min read

A massive bull bison tossed a tourist into the air, seriously injuring him, in a heart-pounding caught-on-camera attack at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

Video shows the unidentified man being thrown 8 feet in the air like a ragdoll by the wild bison at the Bridge Bay Campground Friday, Cowboy State Daily reported.

The tourist was walking with his grandson when the powerful herbivore attacked.

A massive bull bison tossed a tourist into the air, seriously injuring him, in a heart-pounding caught-on-camera attack at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Hanjo Hellmann – stock.adobe.com

Video shows the man running around a copse of pines to try to escape the bull, which was giving itself a dust bath moments earlier.

“I was just trying to get some dramatic footage of that bison having a fit. It’s changed my idea of what to expect from these guys at this time of year, because I would not have predicted that happening,” Montana-based photographer Mike MacLeod, who took the pictures, told Cowboy State Daily.

“He [the bison] started walking through the campground. He was coming up to this group of kids, who were taking pictures on their cellphones from a good distance away, and then the buffalo charged these kids,” MacLeod said.

The photographer stepped in to try to scare off the animal.

“I had to get the bison’s attention. I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.

When the bison was gone, MacLeod and others rushed to help the victim.

The man was in a lot of pain, particularly in his hips and the leg he landed on, but MacLeod and others couldn’t see any external injuries.

“One guy held his hand. Another guy pulled security on the outside to make sure that the bison didn’t come back. A gal in a car was on the phone with 911, and another gal did a blood sweep, but we couldn’t find any blood,” MacLeod said.

The tourist was thrown 8 feet into the air at the Bridge Bay Campground.

No update has been released on the condition of the man tossed by the bison.

MacLeod said the bison likely attacked because it was feeling territorial due to the current rutting season, which runs between June and September.

During this time, male bison can show extra energy and aggression as they compete for dominance and females.

“You can tell [the bison] was agitated, pissed off, and charging anything and everything,” MacLeod added.

Ha! Somebody already did it.

but it's just a fluffy cow go ahead for the next trick pet the big kitty or feed yogi.maybe Bambi will play with you

As a Montana resident (just like 1987, the OP), we do joke about the idiot tourons who walk right up to bison and try to pet them...or even ride them. I watched the entire video this morning and It appeared to me that grandpa was a good distance away, what appeared to be a safe distance away, IMO.

The bull rolled in the dirt and got up and somehow grandpa came into his sights and he took off after him like a heat-seeking missile. Playing cat and mouse around some brush until the bull finally hooked him and tossed him like a loaf of bread.

Grandpa wasn't playing like a stupid touron. But in all fairness, this speaks to the fact that these are wild animals whose behavior can be unpredictable. Respect them, give them plenty of distance.

Some idiot tourons (tourist+moron = touron), deserve to get tossed in the air or worse. I don't believe this grandpa had it coming.