Camper gored by buffalo on Southern California island

VALON, Calif. — Authorities say a buffalo has gored a man camping on Southern California’s Catalina Island.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials say the man was sitting on a log Saturday evening and the buffalo was grazing nearby.

Sgt. Ray Ward says that when the buffalo came closer, the man tried to move away and that’s when the animal charged.

Ward says the buffalo gored the man’s left arm. He didn’t know the extent of the injuries.

The Orange County Register reports that the man was treated at the scene and then airlifted to a hospital on the mainland.

Buffalo are common and roam freely on the backside of Catalina Island, where there are campgrounds. Ward says it’s very rare for them to attack humans.

Buffalo were introduced to the island in the 1920s, believed to have been done for a movie shoot. The herd’s population is now regulated by a birth control program designed to keep their numbers around 150 to reduce island impacts, says the Catalina Island Conservancy.