Woman injured by bison in Yellowstone National Park flown to hospital

A bison has injured a hiker in Yellowstone National Park. How the bison hurt the woman Sunday near a trail at the northern end of Yellowstone Lake was not known, but she had significant injuries, park spokeswoman Linda Veress said.

"We're not clear how the encounter with the bison occurred," Veress told the Billings Gazette.

Park officials didn't identify the woman. She was flown to a hospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Veress told MTN News the park does not have photos or video of the encounter.

Bison injure one or two people in Yellowstone a year on average, usually when people approach the animals, according to a 2018 study.

Park officials urge people to stay at least 25 yards away from large animals and at least 100 yards away from wolves and bears.

Last year, Yellowstone started capturing bison migrating outside the park to hold them in pens for possible slaughter as part of a population reduction program.  

As CBS "Sunday Morning" contributing videographer Judy Lehmberg reported last year, Yellowstone managers have tried to deal with the large bison population for years, while at the same time attempting to appease both those who don't want any bison killed, and the hunters, ranchers and some locals who want the population controlled.

For years Montana Indian tribes have been requesting "surplus" bison from Yellowstone to repopulate their reservations. Their request was finally partially granted in 2019, when 55 male bison were transported to Fort Peck Indian Reservation in central Montana, where a fenced area has been designated for them.