A female passenger on a motorcycle got off and approached a herd of bison that were blocking the road at Custer State Park in South Dakota and wound up being violently attacked as she got too close while taking photos.
A bison charged the woman and caught her belt and jeans with its horn and tossed her around in a circle until the pants came off. The woman fell to the ground unconscious, and the bison ran off with the pants on its horn.
Fortunately, the 54-year-old Iowa woman escaped serious injury, according to the Custer County Chronicle.
A series of videos posted on Facebook by eyewitness Jo Reed tells the disturbing story. Be warned for strong language, and some might find the footage disturbing:
Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley told the Custer County Chronicle that the attack occurred around 6:39 p.m. Wednesday along Iron Mountain Road, adding that the victim was transported to an area hospital by Black Hills Life Flight.
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“According to eyewitnesses, the woman had gotten off the motorcycle on which she was a passenger and was attempting to approach a buffalo calf when another adult bison charged her, catching her belt and jeans on its horn and swung her around violently,” Mechaley told the Chronicle. “She was apparently saved when her pants came off and she fell to the ground unconscious.”
In the preceding videos, Reed can be heard saying, “This woman’s nuts, how close does she have to get?” and “Oh my God, it got her.”
“I’ve never actually filmed a near-death experience, and this was easily going to happen to the woman we saw in Custer State Park on Wednesday,” Reed wrote on Facebook.
“We came around a curve just behind a group of motorcyclists, and there was a herd standing in the middle of the road, most noticeably a cow (female) and her calf ,which was nursing. I popped out of the top of our Jeep to snap a few photos as we were at a stand still.
“Initially one woman got off her bike and approached the herd and then more followed. It was a tense moment, because John and I just knew they weren’t respecting these massive beautiful creatures’ space.”
Custer State Park warns tourists to stay at least a 100 yards from bison. The Custer County Sheriff’s Office had posted a warning only a week before the attack.
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