A 12-year-old child was injured by a bison while visiting Yellowstone National Park on Friday, the National Park Service said. 

Few details have been released about the encounter, but the agency said that the visitor was taken to a nearby hospital by an emergency medical crew. An investigation into what happened is underway.

The incident occurred at around 9:15 a.m. Mountain Time near Yellowstone’s “Mud Volcano,” a section of the park that draws tourists to its famous hydrothermal steam vents and features a short boardwalk weaving through the area. Bison have been spotted there before. 

The animals have also been seen near other hydrothermal sites for which the the park is known, like the geyser Old Faithful, where a New Jersey man was injured after being gored by a bison last year. That incident, in June 2025, happened just about a month after a Florida man was gored and injured by a bison in Yellowstone’s Lake Village area, where restaurants and hotels are located. Bison are commonly seen near Lake Village, too. At the time, the park service said both men had approached the bison too closely.

The park service has often publicly warned that wildlife in Yellowstone — a sprawling wilderness area that covers more than 2.2 million acres in Wyoming, Montana and a bit of Idaho — can be dangerous for humans who come into contact with them. 

“Wild animals can be aggressive when people do not respect their space,” the agency wrote.

Yellowstone visitors are advised to remain at least 25 yards away from wildlife in the park, including bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer moose and coyotes, according to the agency. They should remain at least 100 yards away from bears, wolves and cougars.

More people have been injured by bison in Yellowstone than any other animal, the park service said, noting that the animals “are unpredictable.” They can run up to 30 mph, at least three times faster than humans, “and will defend their space when threatened,” the agency added. Bison are very large animals, with males weighing up to 2,000 pounds and females weighing up to half as much.

Yellowstone’s bison population has ranged from 3,500 to 6,000 in recent years, according to the park service. They roam freely around the park and are typically found in grasslands during the summer months.