Yellowstone National Park in US: Tourist thrown in the air after being charged by 900kg bison

A terrified grandfather has been thrown more than two metres into the air after being charged at by an angry bull bison.

The man was visiting a campground in Yellowstone National Park when the horrifying incident occurred.

Witness Mike Macleod, a professional photographer, told local outlet Cowboy State Daily that he was camping at Bridge Bay Campground when his wife spotted a bison approaching.

Mr Macleod started photographing the 900 kilogram animal from a safe distance as it started walking through the campground.

“He was coming up to this group of kids, who were taking pictures on their cellphones from a good distance away, and then the buffalo charged these kids,” he said.

The kids escaped the bison’s wrath safely, and that’s when Mr Macleod started filming.

“I used to be a combat photographer in the army,” he said.

“I could see this thing coming.”

He said that the bison ran around the campground, prompting screams from campers, before sitting on a patch of dirt.

That’s when a man and his grandson entered the picture.

“They weren’t even in that camping loop,” he said.

“They were walking along the road, quite a ways away from the bison, and it started running at them.”

The pair took photos of the bison from a safe distance while it sat down.

“He was sitting in the dust, like bison do, with his head out towards the road,” Mr MacLeod said.

“When the bison started to get up, the grandfather’s like, ‘OK, time to leave,’ and they moved off behind these trees.”

The arrival of a white car agitated the bison, sending it charging at the truck before pivoting towards the tree area, where the man and his grandfather were hiding.

The boy managed to escape while the bison charged at the pair, but his grandfather had no such luck.

“The bison hooked him with his left horn on his hip and tossed him in the air,” Mr Macleod said.

“He made a perfect flip and landed on his side. The bison was at least 6 feet tall, and (the victim) was several feet above him.”

When the man hit the ground, the bison reportedly stood over him, before Mr Macleod and other bystanders jumped into action and tried to get the bison’s attention away from the grandfather in front of him.

“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible.”

After the bison left and the grandfather’s injuries were assessed by witnesses, it appeared that there were no external injuries, but he was in a lot of pain.

Mr Macleod said the man’s grandson told him he “has some pretty significant injuries and is not out of the woods yet”.

“He was really worried and wanted to see the video to make sure that it wasn’t his fault,” Mr MacLeod said.

“You can tell in the video it’s not his fault. You can tell from the very beginning.”

Mr Macleod said that it was evident no one was at fault and that the bison was just “agitated, p...ed off, and charging anything and everything”.