A woman was attacked by a bison while trying to take photos of a herd in Custer State Park in South Dakota.
The encounter was captured on video and shows a group of motorcyclists stopped on a road as a large herd passes. A woman walks over to the grass and sits down to take a photo of a mother bison and her calf.
Another bison charges the woman and hooks its horn on her jeans, tossing it into the air. She is thrown out of her pants and lands on the ground as people rush to help her.
Custer State Park officials could not be contacted immediately Friday morning.
Park Superintendent Matt Snyder told News Channel 1 that the victim, a 54-year-old woman from Iowa, was taken to hospital via a rescue flight under unknown conditions.
Park visitor Jo Reed, who filmed the video, said the incident happened on Wednesday.
“Bison were everywhere we went, herds and herds,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “We rounded a curve just behind a group of motorcyclists and there was a herd standing in the middle of the road, mostly a cow (female) and her suckling calf.
Reed said she got up from her Jeep to take photos and saw a woman get off her motorcycle and approach the herd. She wanted to share the video of the attack as a reminder of the dangers of facing a wild animal.
“PLEASE PLEASE FEEL FREE to share this, so people understand that they are about to die when they come face to face with such a powerful animal. Luckily the ranger did no need to tranquilize the bison, “Reed wrote.
The Custer State Park incident comes more than a month after two separate bison attacks in Yellowstone National Park.
In June, a 72-year-old Californian woman was gored while trying to take pictures of a bison. The park service said in a statement at the time that she “had approached within 10 feet of a bison on several occasions” and the bison most likely felt threatened.
The woman, who has not been identified, “suffered multiple skin injuries” and was airlifted to hospital, where she was later released.
Another woman was thrown to the ground and injured by a bison in May after park officials said she got too close to the animal.