'I was shocked:' Video shows bison with its head trapped in car at Quebec wildlife park

A large bison at a wildlife park in western Quebec is unhurt after a frightening incident over the weekend.

The bison—weighing in well more than 450 kilograms—got its head stuck through the open window of a small car on Sunday at Parc Oméga, east of Gatineau, near Montebello, Que.

“Somebody opened the window and … the bison put the head inside the car and I was shocked,” said Leonardo Heizer, who was at the park and captured the now viral video.

Heizer and his family made the drive from Ottawa, hoping to see bison for the first time since immigrating to Canada from Brazil four years ago.

What he saw instead was something staff at the park say has never happened before.

“I was thinking somebody is going to get hurt for sure,” Heizer said.

Thankfully, staff say the bison was able to free itself from the vehicle in about ten minutes without harming itself or the people in the car.

“He wasn’t trapped that long so thankfully it was just more panic rather than anything else, so he wasn’t hurt and he managed to get himself back out and he wasn’t hurt so we’re very thankful for that,” Lucy Robertson, a staff member at Parc Oméga said.

Robertson says the incident is a reminder of the importance of following the park’s rules.

“All of our safety rules have been put in place to avoid any incidents, such as what happened on Sunday, and just to ensure the safety of both animals and our visitors,” she noted.

The park expressly forbids people from opening their windows in the bison enclosure, or feeding the animals.

Heizer says the car involved was significantly damaged.

“The windshield was damaged and the column between the front window and the windshield was damaged too,” he noted.

Staff at the park couldn’t say whether the driver of the vehicle would face any punishment as a result of the incident.

The park remains open and visitors can still see the bison in its enclosure.