Picture-taking tourist at Yellowstone stumbles into canyon
A New York tourist, who stumbled backward into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, was safely rescued Monday.
Yellowstone for Families participants try their hand at water color at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Yellowstone Association Institute.
Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo.
Rangers in Yellowstone National Park have rescued a New York tourist who stumbled backward into a canyon while trying to take a picture.
A statement released Monday says the 71-year-old man tumbled about 25 feet Sunday evening before he stopped his fall by bracing his body and feet against a small crevice in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Two park rangers threw the man a rope that they secured to a tree and a sign. A park rescue team then pulled the man back to the rim using ropes and pulleys.
Officials say the man was extremely lucky that he stopped in the crevice because he was at the top of a 200-foot drop.
The man, whose name has not been released, was treated for a possible hip injury.
The accident is the latest in a series of mishaps at the Yellowstone National Park.
On Friday, a 16-year-old girl was gored by a bison in Yellowstone while posing for a picture near the animal.
The National Park Service says the unidentified girl's injuries were serious but not life-threatening.
The agency described her as an exchange student from Taiwan who was visiting the park with her host family. The incident occurred shortly after noon Friday in the Old Faithful area.
The Park Service says she and others were between 3 and 6 feet from the bison when she turned her back to the bison to have her picture taken. The bison took a couple steps and gored her.
The girl was airlifted to an area hospital.
The Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison in the park.
Last week, tourists were captured on video fleeing as a mother black bear protected her cubs in Yellowston.
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks spokesman Bob Gibson witnessed the encounter and said some visitors ignored or were slow to heed a park official’s commands to leave the bridge, reported KRON-TV. As the nervous-seeming cubs scattered, the mother bear raced to round them up, frightening the tourists.
“The bear was the only one doing anything right there,” Gibson said. “The bear was definitely not charging at people. The bear was trying to get across the bridge, and people were in the way.