Man chased by bison in Yellowstone Park after getting out of car to taunt it

'The individual's behaviour in this video is reckless, dangerous, and illegal'

A Bison seen at Yellowstone National Park (REUTERS)

A man was caught on video being chased by a bison after getting out of his car and taunting the animal at Yellowstone National Park.

In the video, the man can be seen walking in the direction of a bison which was moving in between cars on the road. As the bison walked off to the side of the road, the man continued on behind the bison attempting to get the large animal’s attention.

The man can then be seen beating his chest which provoked the bison to charge at him. As the bison charged his direction, the man ran away but persisted to taunt the animal. The bison charged at the man for a second time as the person filming can be heard saying: “I can’t watch.”

The man appeared to eventually end his attempts to tease the bison as he and the animal walked in separate directions at the end of the video clip.

Last month, a woman was gored by bison at Yellowstone, sustaining a hip injury as a result of the attack. Officials had said the woman was in a crowd of people who at one point got within 15 feet (4 metres) of a bison while walking on a boardwalk.

The US National Park Service warns individuals to remain at least 25 yards (23 metres) from all wildlife as they are “unpredictable and dangerous”.

Park officials commented on the recent viral video of the man taunting the bison calling it “reckless” and “dangerous”.

“The individual’s behaviour in this video is reckless, dangerous, and illegal,” said the statement posted on Facebook. “We need people to be stewards of Yellowstone, and one way to do that is to keep your distance from wildlife.”

Officials added: “These distances safeguard both visitors and the remarkable experience of sharing a landscape with thousands of freely-roaming animals. People who ignore these rules are risking their lives and threatening the park experience for everyone else.”