Video of bison fleeing Yellowstone a hoax

PARK COUNTY, Wyo., April 8 (UPI) -- Last week, a video of bison purportedly galloping out of and away from Yellowstone National Park went viral. Online commenters and local news stations entertained ideas that the bison were fleeing an earthquake or an impending volcanic eruption.

But as The Daily Beast reports, the video is a hoax (or has been at least been greatly misrepresented). Yellowstone officials recently pointed out that the video, originally uploaded to YouTube in late March, features bison running into the park -- towards the volcano, not away.

"There are no animals fleeing the park because of an earthquake," Al Nash, spokesman for Yellowstone National Park, told the Great Falls Tribune.

Even if this video doesn't show animals leaving the park, Nash says they do wander off parklands this time of year -- in search of thawed food and fresh grass in warmer, lower elevations.

"What we typically see this time of year is the animals are hungry," he said. "As the snow melts and things get green in the park, they'll walk back in."

[Scientific American] [The Daily Beast] [Great Falls Tribune]