Tourist seriously injured after Yellowstone bison tosses man 8 feet into the air

A man was seriously injured Friday night after he was thrown 8 feet into the air by an angry bison in Yellowstone National Park.

Mike MacLeod, a professional photographer from Bozeman, Montana, said the incident happened at the Bridge Bay Campground, south of Fishing Bridge.

MacLeod said the man was walking with his grandson when the agitated bison made them the target of its aggression.

“I was just trying to get dramatic footage of the bison having a seizure,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “It changed my perspective on what to expect from these guys at this time of year because I wouldn’t have seen this coming.”

The National Park Service did not provide any information about the incident.

Bull in a china shop

McLeod was camping at the Bridge Bay campground when his wife pointed out a bull bison entering the area. He grabbed the camera and started filming from a safe distance.

“He started walking around the campground,” MacLeod said. “He approached a group of children who were taking pictures with their mobile phones from a distance, and then the buffalo attacked these children.”

When the bison attacked, the children ran away safely. But the buffalo wasn’t done yet.

That’s when McLeod started acting.

“I used to be a combat photographer in the Army,” he said. “I could see this thing coming.”

McLeod said the bison continued to run through the campground while residents yelled at each other to warn each other of the threat. After some time, the bison found a piece of land in which to lie down.

Then the victim appeared. He had no idea what was about to happen.

“They weren’t even at this campground,” McLeod said. “They were walking along the road, quite far from the bison, and he ran towards them.”

• Moments before the bison attack (screenshot of video by Mike MacLeod, licensed through NewsFlare)
• A man with his grandson photographs and films the bison moments before the attack (screenshot of video by Mike MacLeod, licensed through NewsFlare)
• A man tries to avoid bison at the Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone, Friday, July 10, 2026. (Screenshot of video by Mike MacLeod, licensed through NewsFlare)
• A man runs away from bison at the Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone, Friday, July 10, 2026. (Screenshot of video by Mike MacLeod, licensed through NewsFlare)
• Just before a bison flips a man 20 feet into the air at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone, Friday, July 10, 2026 (screenshot of video by Mike MacLeod, licensed through NewsFlare)
• Man hit by bison at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone, Friday, July 10, 2026 (screenshot of video by Mike McLeo, licensed through NewsFlare)
• Man hit by bison at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone, Friday, July 10, 2026 (screenshot of video by Mike McLeod, licensed through NewsFlare)
• Bison at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone (Photographer: Mike MacLeod)

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Shortened the distance, up and again

The victim and his grandson were kept a safe distance of at least 100 yards from the bison, according to the National Park Service. They stopped to take photos while the bison lay down and seemed to calm down.

“He was sitting in the dust like a buffalo, with his head stretched towards the road,” MacLeod said. “When the bison started to get up, grandpa said, ‘OK, it’s time to leave,’ and they went behind these trees.”

Then a white pickup truck appeared. For some reason this angered the buffalo again.

“The bison attacked the truck,” MacLeod said. “The guy in the truck saw it happening and just kept going. The bison (then went) to where those two were hiding in the trees.”

Having spent some of its energy on the sapling, the bison burst into the trees and chased the victim and her grandson.

The grandson managed to escape, but his grandfather was not so lucky. The bison chased him through the trees as he tried to escape.

The victim was then turned over, MacLeod said.

“The buffalo caught him on the hip with his left horn and threw him into the air,” he said. “He did a perfect flip and landed on his side. The bison was at least 6 feet tall and (the victim) was several feet taller than him.”

• Man hit by bison at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone, Friday, July 10, 2026 (screenshot of video by Mike McLeo, licensed through NewsFlare)
• Man hit by bison at Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone, Friday, July 10, 2026 (screenshot of video by Mike McLeo, licensed through NewsFlare)

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rescue observer

When the old man fell to the ground, the buffalo stopped but did not run away. It stood over the man he had just thrown, shaking its head in a clear display of excitement.

That’s when MacLeod decided he needed to do something.

“I needed to get the buffalo’s attention,” he said. “I was really scared that he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped filming and ran towards the buffalo, screaming loudly and trying to be as big and intimidating as possible.”

Following MacLeod’s example, several other observers did the same and rushed towards the buffalo. This was enough to get it going.

“He really took off when he left,” MacLeod said.

When the buffalo disappeared, everyone rushed to the victim. He was in a lot of pain, especially in his hips and the leg he landed on, but MacLeod and the others saw no external damage.

“One guy was holding his hand,” MacLeod said. “Another guy called security outside to make sure the bison hadn’t come back. The girl in the car was on the phone with 911 and the other girl did a blood test, but we couldn’t find any blood.”

Yellowstone EMS quickly arrived and took control. MacLeod contacted the victim’s grandson, who told him his grandfather “had some pretty serious injuries and wasn’t out of the woods yet.”

“He was very worried and wanted to watch the video to make sure it wasn’t his fault,” MacLeod said. “You can see from the video that it’s not his fault. It’s clear from the very beginning.”

No errors

This is the second bison incident in Yellowstone in 2026. The first occurred on June 26, when a 12-year-old child was injured near a mud volcano, north of Fishing Bridge.

What stood out to McLeod about Friday’s incident was that no one was to blame for what happened at the Bridge Bay campground. In Yellowstone, people do “stupid” things all the time, but this was not one of those times.

“I didn’t see anyone coming,” he said. “People were yelling, ‘Watch out, there’s a bison coming through here,’ and they kept their distance. They were very respectful.”

The instigator of this incident was a buffalo bull. MacLeod said it was clear the bison entered Bridge Bay with a chip on its humpback shoulder.

“You could tell he was agitated, angry and blaming everything,” he said.

The biological explanation for what happened is the annual bison rut, which lasts from June to September. At this time, bison are filled with energy and aggression, fighting for dominance and females.

MacLeod doesn’t blame anyone, especially the victim or his grandson, for what happened.

“They were just out for an evening walk and happened to turn the corner and there was a bison,” he said.

According to MacLeod, this buffalo was looking for a fight and, for reasons known only to himself, chose these two as the objects of his aggression.

“I was around bison for a while, but it was really weird,” he said. “Why did he choose those two? There were so many people around, and most of them were closer to and behind the buffalo. It was really strange.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.