With summer crowds pouring into Yellowstone National Park, a number of the new visitors have been criticized by the internet for being unsafe around wildlife.
The Instagram account TouronsOfYellowstone (@touronsofyellowstone) shared a video of a massive crowd waiting in line to get the chance to see Old Faithful, the geyser that erupts like clockwork every 90 minutes, interrupted by the appearance of a buffalo trying to make their way across the parking lot.
Unlike many videos on the Tourons account — a made-up word for tourist and moron — the people seen in it don’t seem to have done anything wrong; they are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In this case, they are present when a buffalo is trying to get from one place to another, and its path happens to intersect with the crowd.
However, they make very little effort to follow the rules of the park, which clearly state that buffalo should be given at least 25 yards of space.
The crowd does part somewhat, but as the poster points out, it’s a tricky situation. You don’t want to stampede away from the buffalo, lest you spook it and cause it to run, potentially injuring someone. But you also run the risk of the buffalo getting stressed by the big crowd around it, causing more problems. As they say, the best course of action is to back slowly out of its path and help it feel as safe as possible.
However, the video illustrates another issue at national parks. As crowds grow bigger and bigger in the summer, it can be harder to keep those crowds from impacting the local fauna. The rules of interaction can sometimes be tougher to enforce, and our impact on the environment gets harder to mitigate. In those situations, it’s increasingly important for everyone to respect the guidelines around wildlife interaction and treat nature with the respect and reverence it deserves.
Commenters were quick to note the size of the crowd.
“So many people, might as well be Disneyland,” said one.
Others expressed sympathy for the buffalo: “Poor, old thing. Leave him alone.”
“How about a little respect?” said another.
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