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A herd of bison at Yellowstone National Park warded off wolves and grizzly bears during a “funeral” in a video shared online last week.
Photographer Julie Argyle shared a video showing several wolves and two grizzly bears in the vicinity of a “bison funeral,” but being warded off by the herd.
“When a bison dies in Yellowstone, most of the time the herd that’s in the area will come to pay their respects and surround the dead bison and protect it for hours. This was definitely the case the other day,” Argyle wrote last Tuesday (May 31) via Facebook.
“As you can see in the video, Wolves tried to come in and were chased away several times and two grizzly bears also tried to come in. None of them were allowed to get close to the dead bison until hours after it happened. Nature has an incredible way in life and death.”
Bison are the largest mammal species in North America and capable of reaching speeds of 35 MPH and jumping several feet.
Yellowstone’s estimated bison population is reported to be between 2,300 to 5,500
Last week, the National Park Service confirmed the woman, who was not identified, was visiting from Ohio in a news release obtained by NBC News on March 31.
Park officials said the woman approached a female bison after it had come near a boardwalk located at Black Sand Basin, in an area close to Old Faithful geyser at the national park.
Yellowstone requires all visitors to stay more than 25 yards away from all bison.
Officials confirmed the 25-year-old woman was within 10 feet of the bison prior to it impaling and “tossing” her 10 feet in the air on March 30, which caused puncture wounds and multiple other injuries.
The woman was taken to a hospital in Idaho, however, it wasn’t clear where she was pronounced dead, according to the National Park Service.
Two other people were also close to the bison when it gored the woman, however, officials didn’t confirm whether they experienced injuries.