A video claiming to show bison fleeing a potential supervolcano at a US national park has been dismissed by officials, who say the animals were just ‘feeling frisky’.

The alarmist clip, which showed the bison galloping down a paved road at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, had fuelled fears the ancient volcano could be about to erupt.

However, park officials have said they are not expecting the volcano beneath the park to blow anytime soon after the video went viral.

‘It was a spring-like day and they were frisky. Contrary to online reports, it’s a natural occurrence and not the end of the world,’ said park spokeswoman Amy Bartlett.




The video was posted on March 20, ten days before a magnitude 4.8 earthquake hit, the park’s strongest in 30 years.

Though benign by seismic standards, it was the largest to rattle Yellowstone since another 4.8 quake in February 1980.

Yellowstone later posted a video of its own, noting that it is normal for wildlife to move around to find food at lower elevations, where there is no snow covering at this time of year.

‘The chance of [it erupting] in our lifetimes is exceedingly insignificant,’ said Peter Cervelli, a scientist with the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.