Bison pulls off woman’s jeans in attack at US state park caught on video

Iowa resident was flown to hospital but did not suffer serious injuries

A woman was attacked by a bison in South Dakota, as she tried to take photos of a herd that were crossing the road.

The incident took place at Custer State Park in South Dakota on Wednesday and was filmed by Jo Reed, who was also visiting the park.

In the footage, that Ms Reed uploaded to Facebook, a group of motorcyclists could be seen gathered around a herd of bison that were crossing the road.

One of the motorcyclists, a 54-year-old woman from Iowa, got off her bike and sat in the grass to take pictures of a mother bison and her calf, as the rest of the group took photos further away from the animals.

A bison then charged at the woman and hooked its horns into the belt loops of her jeans and flung her around in the air for a few seconds.

The woman was then thrown out of her jeans and she landed on the grass a few feet away, as other members of the group ran over to help her.

Custer State Park superintendent Matt Snyder told NBC that the woman was flown to a local hospital and confirmed in a separate Facebook post that she escaped serious injury.

In her post on Facebook, Ms Reed said that “the bison were everywhere we went, herds and herds of them,” and added that she started filming them while standing on top of her Jeep, as she knows the danger they can pose.

Ms Reed also urged for others to share the footage, “so people understand they’re about to die when they confront an animal this powerful.”

The incident followed two separate attacks at Yellowstone National Park earlier in the year, including one in June where an elderly woman from California was gored by a bison when she got close to it to take a photo.

In a statement, the park said that the bison probably felt threatened by the woman, but confirmed that after being treated for her injuries she was released from hospital.

Chris Geremia, Yellowstone’s senior bison biologist, said: “Bison are wild animals that respond to threats by displaying aggressive behaviours like pawing the ground, snorting, bobbing their head, bellowing, and raising their tail. If that doesn’t make the threat (in this instance it was a person) move away, a threatened bison may charge.”

He added: “To be safe around bison, stay at least 25 yards away, move away if they approach, and run away or find cover if they charge.”