Visiting Antelope Island this summer? Here’s how to avoid conflicts with bison

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Whether you are planning a summer hiking trip to Antelope Island, Grand Teton National Park, or even Yellowstone National Park, it is important to be mindful of safety precautions you can take, should you encounter a bison.

Antelope Island State Park,

in particular, is a popular destination for Utahns to hike, camp and even boat on the surrounding Great Salt Lake. The island itself also houses many wildlife species, including pronghorn (A.K.A. “the American antelope”), bighorn sheep, mule deer, and perhaps most notoriously, bison.

One of the nation’s largest and oldest public bison herds can be found on Antelope Island. According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), there are over 700 total bison on the island during the spring and summer months.

While quite rare, multiple incidents have occurred over the last few years involving visitors to Antelope Island getting charged and injured by bison, which is why it is important to be aware of what to do should you encounter one.

Video courtesy of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

“Anytime there is a dangerous interaction with wildlife, it’s usually because the person got too close,” Utah State Parks North Region Manager Wendy Wilson said in a DWR press release. “People often try to get closer for pictures, and it never ends well. Please give these animals plenty of space.”

“There is a common misconception that because big game animals like bison and moose aren’t predators that they aren’t dangerous,” said Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Once-in-a-lifetime Species Coordinator Rusty Robinson. “In reality, both of these species can be quite aggressive if you get too close.” 

Here are a few tips from DWR on how to avoid making a bison aggressive should you encounter one:

• If you see a bison and it stops what it is doing and starts paying attention to you, you are too close and should slowly back away. 
• If a bison is in the middle of the road, wait for it to pass. Do not get out of your vehicle.
• If a bison is on the side of the road, feel free to slowly drive past it. But again, stay inside your vehicle.
• If you see a bison in the distance, do not walk across the rangeland to get closer to it. Take your photos from a safe distance.
• If you are hiking and a bison is close to you or on the trail, you should either back away and return the way you came or leave the trail and give the animal a very wide berth when passing it. It is OK to go off the trail if your safety is at risk. 

“We’ve got trail restrictions on Antelope Island in the backcountry, but safety trumps those rules,” Wilson added. “If you are in the backcountry hiking and you come across any wildlife that’s in your path, we urge you to travel around it. Whatever distance you think you should remain from the animal, double it — that’s how far back you should stay.”