Tourist who suffered ‘massive gaping puncture wound’ after feeding bison files lawsuit

A Los Angeles tourist filed a lawsuit in New Mexico state District Court against a ranch owner, property manager, and camping website after a 2022 incident left her severely injured, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Sarah Fiskin claims a bison named Junior gored her arm during a treehouse vacation near Truchas, requiring surgery and causing permanent physical and psychological damage. The lawsuit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages from Jerry Lopez, Sandra Webb, and Hipcamp.

Webb’s insurance company spent years trying to resolve the matter, even offering around $300,000 to settle, but Fiskin or her attorney declined, Webb told the Santa Fe New Mexican. Neither Webb nor her insurer received medical bills despite the injury claims. The lawsuit finally materialized in 2025, just before the statute of limitations expired. Both ranch owner Lopez and Hipcamp declined to comment on the pending litigation when contacted by the newspaper.

Fiskin and her partner booked the “Tatanka Treehouse” through Hipcamp, a platform connecting travelers with unique outdoor stays. The property sat on Lopez’s ranch near Truchas, where Webb lived in a cabin she built and managed the rental with his permission. Webb charged about $100 per night for the one-bedroom treehouse. She’d been renting it since 2020 without incident, offering guests what she called “magical experiences” in northern New Mexico.

The couple had booked an ATV tour with bison feeding for about $50. According to Fiskin’s lawsuit, the animals became aggressive when pellet supplies ran low, and Junior “violently swung his horns,” creating “a massive gaping puncture wound” on her left arm. Webb disputes this entirely, telling the Santa Fe New Mexican the incident was accidental. She says Fiskin dropped a treat, Junior bent down to retrieve it, and his horn accidentally caught her bicep when he lifted his head.

The lawsuit claims the defendants failed to appropriately respond after the injury. Webb strongly disagrees, saying she held a compress on the wound while Fiskin’s partner drove them to the hospital in Española. “I was talking to her, trying to keep her calm,” Webb recalled. She waited at the hospital to ensure Fiskin was okay, but the couple stopped all communication afterward. Webb called much of the lawsuit “B.S.” in her interview.

During the drive to Española, Fiskin disclosed something that shocked Webb. “‘You know, I’m afraid of every single animal … everything — cats, dogs, rabbits; the only thing I’m not afraid of is goldfish,'” Webb recalled Fiskin saying. Webb questioned why someone terrified of nearly all animals would visit a property with bison. “Had I known she was afraid of animals, like all animals, even squirrels, I wouldn’t have let her go anywhere near the buffalo,” she added.

Five bison live on the property, and Webb maintains that none are aggressive. She described them as tame as “puppy dogs” and insists the incident was an accident, not an attack. The name “Tatanka” comes from the Lakota word for bison, reflecting the animals’ central role in the guest experience. For two years before the incident, guests fed the bison without any problems, Webb said, with everyone enjoying close interactions safely.

Webb stopped renting the treehouse after the incident, losing the income she needed to supplement Social Security payments. She lives on the property in a cabin she built and has been offering the rental and optional bison feeding tours since 2020 with Lopez’s permission. Webb, who teaches meditation for a living, felt “terrible” about what happened. She described the years before as filled with guests having wonderful experiences.

Fiskin’s lawsuit claims defendants should have known the bison “had a propensity for being aggressive with humans” and shouldn’t have offered feeding opportunities to guests. Webb strongly rejects this, maintaining that the five animals are docile and the incident was a pure accident when Fiskin dropped a treat. The lawsuit also alleges negligence in the response, including failure to render first aid and evacuate her promptly. The injury required surgery and caused permanent damage, Fiskin states.

The American bison, the largest animal indigenous to North America, poses inherent risks regardless of temperament. Bulls can exceed 2,000 pounds and stand over six feet tall at the hump, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Wildlife experts consistently warn against close encounters with bison, whether they appear tame or wild. Human-wildlife interactions frequently end poorly for both parties, and wild bison involved in such incidents are sometimes tracked and euthanized by authorities.

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Buffalo Sauce: Tourist who suffered ‘massive gaping puncture wound’ after feeding bison files lawsuit