Watch as mom bison protects newborn from ‘snapping jaws’ at Yellowstone National Park
A mother bison shielded her newborn from “snapping jaws” at Yellowstone National Park in a nerve-wracking video.
The animal was guarding her calf from a pack of lunging wolves on May 20 in Lamar Valley, according to a video taken by Michael Sypniewski, a Yellowstone Wolf Tracker guide.
Lamar Valley is in the northeastern part of the park in Wyoming.
“For 20 minutes, these two icons of the West battled back and forth,” Sypniewski said in an Instagram post.
The bison is seen keeping her baby close to her side as wolves circle them, sometimes getting inches away from the young animal.
But the mother bison fends off the wolves until they give up, the video shows.
“The persistent predators and the wolves were forced to watch as she safety returned back to a distant bison herd. Incredible day,” Sypniewski wrote in the post.
Sypniewski told McClatchy News he caught the animals on camera when he was guiding two clients through the park to see wolves and other wildlife through the tour guide company Yellowstone Wolf Tracker.
“It was an astonishing sight to see. The strength and perseverance of the mother was incredible. A true testament of the power of bison,” Sypniewski said.
This story was originally published June 5, 2023 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Watch as mom bison protects newborn from ‘snapping jaws’ at Yellowstone National Park."
