Trying to get closer to bison is dangerous for many reasons. It's obvious these are large animals, but they're also wildly unpredictable. Yellowstone tourists learned this lesson the hard way a few weeks ago.

Here's how the situation was described by the person who shared the video:

People had gotten out of their cars and walked down into the valley to get closer to the herd of bison across the river. Then the bison started running downhill and people started scattering, there were also fishermen to the left.

As the video begins, you can see a family that is quite literally yards from bison that are crossing the river. Bison are passing by them on both sides. The herd that is passing to their right nearly veers right into their path as they seek safety further up the bank. The fishermen seem to be more or less out of the stampede's path, but even they end up too close for comfort.

This is why you stay in your vehicle and stay on designated paths when visiting Yellowstone. Considering that these animals are over 1,000 pounds each, you don't want to be on the wrong side of a bison stampede.

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