When a bison dies in Yellowstone National Park, it’s not long before the carcass attracts top predators such as wolves and grizzly bears, and much smaller scavengers.
But quite often an apparent mourning process plays out, during which all other critters wisely keep their distance.
The accompanying footage, captured last weekend by Julie Argyle Wildlife Photography, shows several wolves and two grizzly bears roaming a bison carcass perimeter closely guarded by bison.
Argyle wrote Tuesday on Facebook:
“When a bison dies in Yellowstone, most of the time the herd that’s in the area will come to pay their respects and surround the dead bison and protect it for hours. This was definitely the case the other day.
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“As you can see in the video, wolves tried to come in and were chased away several times and two grizzly bears also tried to come in. None of them were allowed to get close to the dead bison until hours after it happened. Nature has an incredible way in life and death.”
Bison can be seen nudging the carcass, while others stand guard. While this behavior may not be considered rare, it’s rarely observed since it can occur far from roads and trails.
Argyle told For The Win Outdoors that she captured the footage in Lamar Valley while shooting through a spotting scope from a distance of 1,000 yards.
She did not know how long the “bison funeral” lasted because a storm swept through the valley and she left in near whiteout conditions.
The bison carcass appeared to be that of an adult and the cause of death was not known, Argyle said.
Yellowstone is home to more than 5,000 bison, which are social creatures that form large herds during spring and summer.
The immensely powerful animals can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds and run at speeds up to 30 mph, so they warrant a great deal of respect.
