Was a Man in a Bison Costume Arrested in Yellowstone?

A trending social media story claims that rangers at Yellowstone National Park arrested a 34-year-old man for dressing up in a homemade bison costume and chasing tourists while shouting, “Now you know how it feels!”

At first glance, the story seems somewhat believable, given the long list of tourist antics at America’s oldest national park. But Outside has learned that the entire saga is fake. In an email to our newsroom, the National Park Service (NPS) said there was no such report or arrest.

The story was originally posted on July 21 by Casper Planet, a satirical Facebook page, alongside a photo that shows a person wearing a bison head costume. The same photo and caption were then reshared by a number of social media accounts that post content surrounding national parks, such as Tourons of Yellowstone and Tourons of National Parks. But some accounts shared the post as authentic, and didn’t include the satire disclaimer.

I’m embarrassed to say that I was initially duped by the fake post, in part because outlandish tourist behavior across national parks—and especially Yellowstone—is happens so frequently.

Bison gore tourists on a seemingly regular basis, visitor vehicles included. It seems that the park simply turns many of us into maniacs.

A quick online search of recent Yellowstone stories includes a story about a Texas man who was jailed after damaging Yellowstone’s Mammoth Hot Springs. And that’s just the beginning. In 2024, officials fined James Bond star Pierce Brosnan after he pleaded guilty to walking through a thermal area in Mammoth. That same year, a 21-year-old man from Washington received a seven-day jail sentence for thermal trespass at Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin. A 26-year-old woman was sentenced to seven days in jail in 2021 after walking on thermal ground at Norris Geyser Basin. In 2020, officials sentenced two men to ten days of incarceration—and a five-year ban from Yellowstone—after the duo trespassed on the cone of Old Faithful Geyser, a closed thermal area.

Plus, the internet is rife with AI-generated content and fake news. Animals on social media are wilder than ever, thanks to artificial intelligence-generated video. There’s also an entire YouTube channel of AI-created climbing accidents.

In a digital world of satirical slander, dancing raccoons, and unbelievable outdoor accidents, sometimes the only way to tell what’s real and fake is to ask the NPS.

“We encourage the public and media to verify any information they see online by checking official NPS sources. NPS.gov is our authoritative platform for news releases, safety information, park alerts, and background materials,” an NPS spokesperson told Outside.

“The most accurate and up‑to‑date details about parks, programs, and policies can be found on NPS.gov, as well as on our verified social media accounts and those of individual parks.”

I spent years as a fact-checker before coming to Outside. A simple rule of thumb I like to tell folks is: When in doubt, don’t share it out.