'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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.