A 16-year-old exchange student visiting Yellowstone National Park was gored by a bison on Friday after turning her back on the creature to pose for a picture, NBC Montana reports. According to park officials, the girl’s injuries were serious but not life-threatening.

Eyewitnesses say the Taiwan native and her host family were standing between three and six feet from the bison at the time of the attack. From CNN:

As they were hiking near the geyser Old Faithful, they stopped where a group of people had gathered to watch a bison grazing next to the trail.

“The girl turned her back to the bison to have her picture taken when the bison lifted its head, took a couple steps and gored her,” the park service said.

Park spokesperson Amy Bartlett said the tourists were still less than 10 feet from the bison when rangers arrived on the scene.

“The rangers, with assistance from bystanders, moved the girl a safe distance from the bison,” Bartlett said in a statement. “The girl was transported to the Old Faithful Clinic, treated and then taken by helicopter ambulance for further medical treatment.”

Yellowstone safety rules require visitors to stay at least 300 feet away from bears and wolves and 75 feet from all other large animals.

“Bison can sprint three times faster than humans can run,” notes the park’s website. “Every year visitors are gored and some have been killed.”

[Image via AP Images]