Yellowstone bison attacks woman who was trying to take a selfie with it

Yellowstone National Park officials are warning tourists to keep their distance after a bison flipped a woman into the air as she posed for a self-portrait with the massive beast.

The dangerous encounter was the fifth run-in between park-goers and buffalo this year.

Park officials said the 43-year-old Mississippi woman turned her back on the animal to get a photo with it near the Fairy Falls trailhead just outside Old Faithful.

Someone nearby saw the woman and her daughter about 6 metres from the animal and warned they were too close just before it came at them.

They tried to run, but the bison caught the woman and tossed her with its head.

The woman’s family drove her to a nearby clinic where she was treated for minor injuries.

“The (woman) said they knew they were doing something wrong but thought it was OK because other people were nearby,” park spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said. “People are getting way too close.”