Last summer, Outside sent writer Drew Magary to Yellowstone National Park, not to observe the wildlife, but instead to gawk at the tourists. Amid all the chaos of high season at one of the United States’ most heavily-trafficked national parks, Magary discovered, among other things, that “everyone who comes to Yellowstone is horny for bison.”
But unlike other big, dangerous animals like wolves or bears, tourists, Magary noted, weren’t scared off by the 2,000-pound animals. “Your fight-or-flight instincts don’t kick in when you see a bison. Quite the opposite. You feel serene. Peaceful. At one with the land. That kind of attitude is why Yellowstone visitors end up gored.”
Alas, Magary’s observation has come true, again.
On Monday, June 10, a 30-year-old man from New Jersey was gored by a bison, near the Old Faithful geyser, after he and a large group of other tourists got too close to the animal. It’s the second such incident this year. A Florida man was gored on May 7, under similar circumstances.
The news was published by The National Park Service in a press release that asked visitors to use common sense. “Wild animals can be aggressive if people don’t respect their space,” the release stated, before reminding visitors “to stay more than 25 yards away from all large animals.”
Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal, and human-provoked bison attacks—almost always resulting from tourists simply getting too close—occur at least a couple of times a year in the park. There were two gorings reported in 2024, and another in 2023. The prevalence of such behavior, specifically in Yellowstone, has led to a nickname, “touron,” a portmanteau of tourist and moron. An eponymous Instagram page has over half a million follows.
Informally known as “buffalo,” American bison are the national mammal of the United States and the largest mammal in North America. Males stand six feet tall, weigh up to 2,000 pounds, and can run 35 miles per hour. Historically, bison roamed in sprawling herds across much of the continent, but were slaughtered for their furs wholesale in the late 1800s by settlers. In the late 1700s, the species numbered 60 million, but by 1889, less than 600 remained. Efforts to revive bison herds have been successful, however, and the latest assessment, in 2016, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported a population of 31,000.
Fossil records show that bison have continuously lived in Yellowstone since prehistoric times, and roughly 5,000 live in and around the park today, the largest bison population on American public lands.
It’s worth noting that bison attacks aren’t just bad for humans. They frequently result in tragedy for the animals. In 2016, a father and son tried to kidnap a baby bison in Yellowstone, which was subsequently rejected by its herd. Too young to survive on its own, the calf was euthanized. A similar incident occurred in 2023, when a man began handling a calf that had been separated from its mother. Despite repeated park efforts to reunite it with its family, this calf was also rejected and abandoned, and later had to be put down as well.
