In my past life as a park ranger, I’ve seen people repeatedly approach big animals, the likes of
This is a continued, selfish insult to the lives of wild animals, many of which are
Most recently, the park charged a woman for disturbing wildlife after she approached and agitated a grizzly mom and her cubs,
You can
If there’s one crucial message to take away from this unfortunate event, it’s this succinct reality: Bears, like all wildlife, need space. Giving them space shows respect and allows these wild animals the ability to live their lives unhindered by human threats or presence.
In Yellowstone, for example, visitors are required to “keep at least 100 yards (93 meters) from bears at all times and never approach a bear to take a photo.” A similar regulation exists in Alaska’s Katmai National Park, of
Beyond respecting wildlife, keeping a smart distance from large animals also avoids serious injuries to people, or worse. Be like journalist Deion Broxton, whose
“Oh no, I’m not messing with you,” Broxton said on camera as a bison came near.
In 2019, negligent people stood within 10 feet of a Yellowstone bison. The bison charged, resulting in a nine-year-old girl
Why do people approach dangerous animals? A prominent reason is many people today are out of touch with the wilderness. They might grow up in a world largely influenced by TV and urban life, without sufficient exposure to the natural world. At young ages, children miss crucial cues about natural danger. These cues shape their future understanding and views.
“There’s certainly not an innate knowledge of which animals are dangerous or not — it has to be learned,” Clark Barrett, a biological anthropologist at the University of Los Angeles, California,
So when children grow up and become adults, they might not have a grip on the realities and threats of the wild world. “It’s almost as if people leave their brain in their car when they go into the wilderness,”
But we’re certainly not helpless. Listen to park rangers, educate yourself and those in your life when you enter the wilderness. Think about the animals: Give ’em space.