From the grizzly man who talked to bears, to the alligator that attacked a little boy, these are 7 of the BIGGEST National Park predators. That same year, this picture was taken by Rich Glamann… You can see a huge bison hammering its head into a man lying prone on a path in Yellowstone. Like many others, that man got too close to the animal when it attacked. 2015 certainly didn’t seem to be the best year for tourists at Yellowstone Park … or bison for that matter. Well, maybe the animals will get more respect in the future … The American Bison was named the National Mammal of the United States in May 2016! Created in 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado experienced its first fatal animal attack on a human in 1997. A 10-year-old boy was hiking with his parents and sister on a popular trail in Rocky mountain National Park, when he attacked by an adult female mountain lion. Mark David Miedema (me-deem-mah) had walked ahead of his family when the 88-pound animal attacked and killed the boy. The actual attack was unseen, but Mark’s family arrived 3 to 4 minutes later to find the mountain lion dragging his body into the wilderness. The parents managed to scare it away, but efforts to revive the boy failed. A female adult mountain lion without cubs was later tracked down and killed in the vicinity of the attack. It’s unknown if it was the same animal involved in the attack. A moose in Alaska’s Denali National Park injured two visitors within 10 days, injuring one woman badly enough to merit a trip to the hospital. The woman was taking pictures of the cow moose and her calves when the animal became aggressive, and charged the crowd. The moose reared up and brought its hooves down, lacerating the woman’s ear and shoulder. Another onlooker was charged by the same moose, but received superficial injuries. According to the park, more visitors are hurt there by moose than by bears. Visitors are required to maintain a distance of 25 years from moose while in the park. But even at that distance the animals can become spooked. Not something you’d want to chance when dealing with an animal that can weigh up to 1200 pounds and stand up to 6.5 feet tall from hoof to shoulder! Elk at the Grand Canyon are known to be potentially dangerous to humans … especially during the rut. Their behavior can be unpredictable … known to charge without notice, they can bring their sharp antlers rushing toward a human with some 750 pounds of muscle to propel them. Incidents have included bull elks breaking the legs of visitors who got to close, as well as visitors being gored in the eye. Even when precautions are taken, such as avoiding the animals territory, the animals are known to maintain their aggression. In 2011, a park employee was was gored in the back by an elk while standing on the sidewalk outside a hotel. One reason for the animals aggressive nature is that they’ve lost their fear of humans, according to Brandon Holton, a wildlife biologist at Grand Canyon. Roads and campsites can become clogged with elk and cars, leading to so-called “elk jams” that can last for hours. The animals numbers keep increasing because hunting them is prohibited at the park, a measure that’s often used to control elk populations. While visiting Montana’s Glacier National park in 2005 Johan Otter and his daughter Jenna were attacked by a grizzly bear. The mother bear seemingly appeared on the mountain trail from out of nowhere with her two cubs. When it was getting close enough to touch his daughter, Otter positioned himself between her and the bear … and that’s when the animal attacked … breaking his neck, gouging his right eye, and managing to tear off almost 80% of Otter’s scalp. He managed to retain his footing despite the massive injuries, and decided there was only one way to come out of the attack alive -- by leaping off the mountain. Before he could do so, the bear also attacked his daughter, lacerating her skull leaving her with broken vertebrae… but when she played dead, the beast wandered away … and that’s when she and her father jumped, both of them landing on the same mountain ledge. After some passing hikers were alerted by Jenna’s screams, help was called in but it took another three hours. In 2015 the father and daughter returned to Glacier national Park as part of an ABC-TV show that dramatized the attack. Otter said he had a long recovery, but he’s run the Boston Marathon half a dozen times since the ordeal. His daughter meanwhile is in medical school at Columbia University and plans to become an emergency room physician. Subscribe to Epic Wildlife http://goo.gl/6rzs5u Let's Connect -- http://www.epicadamwildlife.com/ -- http://www.facebook.com/epicadamwildlife -- http://www.twitter.com/epicwildlife -- http://gplus.to/epicwildlife
Visibility: 13701
Duration: 8m 4s
Rating: 349