Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ANTELOPE ISLAND — A bison rammed Ty Draper into a fence at Antelope Island State Park. Now, that man is talking about the ordeal, setting the record straight that he is not the "thrill-seeker" witnesses and previously released photographs made him out to be.
Draper, of Colorado Springs, Colo., said Thursday he was simply trying to protect the runners in the Antelope Island Buffalo Run, which was just about to begin. The bison, he said, had migrated into the direct path of the entrants.
"I figured I had a more gentle way of doing it because I wasn't running straight at him in a hoard," Draper said.
So, Draper said he simply stepped into what he believed was the bison's territory. He said he didn't rattle the fence, nor did he throw rocks, as other witnesses claimed.
The bison quickly reared around and charged at Draper. He said he believes he first made contact with the bison's skull.
"He launched me in the air," Draper said. "I think he might have carried me for a while looking at that photo because I wasn't close to the fence when he struck."
Draper was referring to a photograph taken by spectator Wayne Ebenroth, which showed the bison pancacking Draper against the fence.
"Looked up at this beast, I was waiting for him to do the final blow, just stepping on my head or something," Draper said.
Luckily for Draper, the bison trotted away. He said he still had some "rib problems" after the attack, which all things considered was better than he expected prior to impact.
"I knew that I was probably going to get away from it if I was lucky with some severe injuries, if not death," Draper said.
Draper is calling on event organizers to review what took place Saturday and see if there is anything that can be done to enhance safety. He said he didn't want the race to go away, though he expressed concerns about his son running in it in the future.
Antelope Island Buffalo Run organizer Jim Skaggs said Wednesday he had managed the races on the island for eight years, and he had never seen anything close to what happened.
I knew that I was probably going to get away from it if I was lucky with some severe injuries, if not death.
–Ty Draper
He said over 700 runners took part in the weekend's endurance races, and the only person who had a bad encounter with the wildlife was Draper.
"They were in and amongst the bison from Friday at noon until Saturday evening and nobody else had any violent encounters with the bison," Skaggs said.
Skaggs added Thursday that while he has "concern every year" about the potential for a brush with the bison, runners are made aware of the inherent dangers of having wild animals along the course.
Measures have been in place every year, Skaggs said, to mitigate the risk — including volunteer trail patrols who survey the course and try to get bison to move if they're in the way.
"Most of the time, they'll just move and get out of the way," Skaggs said. "They're pretty good about that as long as they have a path to leave."
Skaggs said he would look further at what happened, but didn't anticipate any changes to protocols.
