SYRACUSE, UT — A 55-year old man who was found injured on Antelope Island State Part Saturday morning died Saturday night due to injuries which officials from Utah State Parks say are likely from a bison.
“Two women were on the Lakeside Trail and heard an individual calling for help,” said Eugene Swalberg, public affairs coordinator for the Utah State Parks. “They found a 55-year-old man from Davis County who’d been injured, and they called 911.”
Upon arrival at the scene, state parks personnel found the man about a mile from where his car was parked and immediately began rendering first aid.
State Parks personnel suspect the man may have been gored by a famous bison that lives on the island.
“He was certainly injured,” Swalberg said. “But there was no eyewitness, and we don’t know how long he’d been lying there. He certainly had injuries consistent with a goring, but it’s still under investigation, so we cannot definitively say that’s what happened.”
Lacerations were found on the man’s body suggesting that he may have been thrown by a bison. A hat and some earbuds were also found near his body.
“Was he running with earbuds and spooked a bison? That’s entirely possible,” Swalberg said. “We just don’t know the circumstances, but he does have wounds and injuries consistent with a goring … and maybe if he was thrown, lacerations from the rocks.”
The man was reportedly taken by helicopter to University of Utah Hospital in critical condition.
A family friend said that the 55-year old man frequently ran on Antelope Island.
The identity of the man has not yet been released.
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