As the bison snorts and roars, the tourists laugh. At least one of the spectators has the wherewithal to realize the bison isn\u2019t playing and says, \u201cI am not comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the appropriate response, biologists say. If the bison had gotten a little more agitated, there could\u2019ve been\u00a0several serious injuries<\/a>\u00a0on the boardwalk.<\/p>\n Slater\u2019s video has been viewed nearly 10 million times, with many people commenting on how amusing and cute the bison was behaving. Others recognized the extraordinary amount of danger those people were in.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bison could have easily plowed into the tourists,\u201d said ecologist, author and bison advocate George Wuerthner. \u201cThat bison was not performing except to demonstrate his agitation. They are so fast, and these people were way too close.\u201d<\/p>\n Read The Room<\/p>\n Yellowstone\u2019s bison are wild animals. In Wuerthner\u2019s experience, however, most Yellowstone tourists don\u2019t behave as if they\u2019re aware of that fact.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople tend to look at the wildlife in Yellowstone like they would if they were at a zoo,\u201d he said. \u201cThose animals are accustomed to people, but that doesn’t negate their natural, wild tendencies. And in their wild conditions, Yellowstone\u2019s wildlife will react differently than an animal in the zoo.\u201d<\/p>\n Wuerthner knows a lot more about bison behavior and body language than the average Yellowstone tourist. Still, he doesn\u2019t think you\u2019d need an expert to tell you that the bison was acting agitated and aggressive.<\/p>\n The clearest sign to Wuerthner was the bison\u2019s tail. Usually kept down and hanging, this bull bison\u2019s tail was rigid for the duration of the video.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen bison are agitated, their tails are held out straight,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s a sign that you’ve got to be careful. He was really upset.\u201d<\/p>\n And the hopping, snorting and head twirling?<\/p>\n It might look comical and flamboyant, but Wuerthner said it’s a sign of imminent danger.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was getting ready to charge,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the bull saying, \u2018I’m trying to show you what a strong guy I am, and you better watch out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Lost In Bison Translation<\/p>\n Humans might be too detached from nature to understand\u00a0the intricacies of bison behavior<\/a>, but bison understand each other. Wuerthner said that the bison\u2019s behavior would be easy for any other bison to read.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s a behavior that bison do with other bison, and the other bison know what it means,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Autumn is the tail-end of the rutting season for Yellowstone\u2019s bison. From June through September, bull bison are throbbing with hormones and aggression, which often forces them into competition with each other over females and territory.<\/p>\n Wuerthner said the behavior being shown by that bison wasn\u2019t necessarily for their benefit. It was showing off its strength, virility, and willingness to get aggressive, which would send a clear message to any other bison.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just the same thing we have with dogs,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a tail-wagging dog comes up to you, that means something different than when they\u2019re barking and baring their teeth. It’s the same thing with the bison.\u201d<\/p>\n Tourists don\u2019t speak bison. That means they often stumbled into dangerous circumstances.<\/p>\n All Yellowstone visitors are intruding into the natural habitat of wild bison, but the people in the video were in a much more dangerous spot. They were well within the 25-yard distance that the National Park Service earnestly asks be maintained between them and Yellowstone\u2019s bison, elk, and deer.<\/p>\n Regardless of the language barrier, Wuerthner said this bison\u2019s behavior wasn\u2019t difficult to interpret.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if this was behavior that bison use among themselves, people can tell what they’re thinking and what their intentions are,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a warning. That bison was saying, \u2018I am very agitated and ready to take some aggressive action if you don’t watch your step.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The people in the video were watching the bison\u2019s pugnacious performance from an elevated wooden boardwalk with a railing. That should offer some protection if the bison charged, right?<\/p>\n A fully-grown bull bison can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. When flooded with hormones during the rut, there\u2019s no guarantee a bull bison wouldn\u2019t try to turn the boardwalk into a shattered pile of splintered lumber.<\/p>\n \u201cHe could have crashed right through that boardwalk if he wanted to,\u201d Wuerthner said.<\/p>\n Wuerthner said he often observed tourists behaving as if there were \u201csafe spaces\u201d in Yellowstone. Tourists might believe they\u2019re safe on a boardwalk or road, but none of the park\u2019s wildlife recognizes these arbitrary barriers as safe spaces.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople in Yellowstone will stay on the roads and act like it\u2019s human territory,\u201d he said. \u201cThey act like that bison and grizzlies know they\u2019re not supposed to go on the road, and there is an imaginary sense of safety.\u201d<\/p>\n While that thought process is \u201ckind of funny\u201d to see in real-time, Wuerthner doesn\u2019t underestimate the real danger of bison that many people seem to ignore when they\u2019re standing in human-constructed areas like roads and boardwalks.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a bison\u2019s agitated, a road or boardwalk isn\u2019t going to stop it from charging,\u201d he said. \u201cStanding on a boardwalk is a false sense of security.\u201d<\/p>\n Need A Reminder?<\/p>\n On May 4, 2025<\/a>, a Florida man was gored by a bison in the Lake Village Area. Yellowstone officials said the man was too close to the bison, which provoked it into charging.<\/p>\n![\"Video](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Jumping-bison-and-tourists-9.8.25.jpg\")
Video of a hopping bison getting crowded by tourists at Yellowstone National Park has been viewed nearly 10 million times since Friday. What many people don\u2019t realize is the bison wasn\u2019t being playful, it was read to mangle them, a biologist says. (Jake Slater via Facebook)No Safe Spaces<\/p>\n