National parks are a wonderful place to connect with nature and enjoy wildlife, but it’s important for that appreciation to be done at a safe distance. Unfortunately, that reasonable expectation is not met by all visitors.
A clip was posted on the Instagram account TouronsOfYellowstone (@touronsofyellowstone), which tracks the regrettable conduct of so-called tourons, an unflattering but fair portmanteau of tourist and moron.
In this instance, the tourons got uncomfortably close to a wolf. The footage shows some tourists maintaining a safe distance, but most others did not make way for the wolf as it crosses the road. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but it’s still harmful to a wild animal to get too accustomed to humans.
The National Park Service warns visitors to stay at least 100 yards away from animals like wolves and bears. As an advisory article cautions, “If you’re close enough for a selfie, you’re definitely too close.” Even seemingly docile large herbivores, like elk and bison, can be dangerous if they feel threatened. There’s usually at least one injury per season that could so easily have been avoided.
Unfortunately, human encounters with wildlife also put animals in danger. If an animal injures a human, provoked or unprovoked, the animal is often euthanized.
Gray wolves are a relatively recent addition to the park; they were successfully reintroduced in 1995, and this has had a profound ripple effect on the entire ecosystem. As National Geographic reported, overgrazing by elk was harming several other species, from the rodents denied hiding spots to bears being blocked from berries. Wolves brought the elk numbers back under control, and even residents of a nearby town felt the benefits as their drinking water’s quality improved.
Yellowstone is the oldest national park in the world, first established in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant, and it remains one of the most popular in the country. It’s home to over 300 species of birds and 67 species of mammals. However, visitors have a collective responsibility to treat these national treasures with respect.
Unsurprisingly, the post’s comments expressed annoyance at the poor behavior seen in the video. One said: “They should limit the amount of daily visitors, too many people. It’s like Disneyland out there now.”
Another fumed: “So much for respectable space for wildlife. Biggest problem. The wolf is becoming if not already habituated to people.”
Others were concerned for the animal, with one saying: “That poor wolf.”
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