Hey, if youāve never interacted with an actual wild animal before and you are visiting a National Park and seeing one for the first time hereās a helpful little guidebook for you:Ā
- Yes that is an actual wild animal.Ā
- No it doesnāt behave like your dog, and because you are inexperienced in the wilderness you donāt have any idea how toĀ read its body language. Yes this includes you, even if you feel like youāve got some sort of āspecial connection to animalsā.Ā
- No it doesnāt like you, it doesnāt want to be pet by you, it doesnāt want you to approach it, it doesnāt even want to be close enough to you that itās aware of your presence.
- Yes it absolutely will attack you if it feels even a little bothered by you. No this isnāt limited just to bears and other predators, but to bison and moose and elk and basically any large animal at all.Ā
- Yes, if it attacks you it absolutely will fuck you up.Ā
- No, you wonāt get any sympathy from anyone. It was being a wild animal and you were being a dipshit. I can tell you with plenty of experience that locals anywhere with abundant wildlife love to pass around stories of the latest asshole who got gored by a bison because they wanted a cool picture for their instagramĀ
- The general rule for being around wildlife is that at a minimum you want to stay 25 yards away from herbivores, and 100 yards away from carnivores. That says yards, not feet. But if the animal seems to be paying any attention to you at all, youāre too close.Ā
- No, you shouldnāt feed it. Ever. Yes, this includes you again, with your āspecial connection to animalsā.Ā
This probably seems a tad abrasive and unnecessary if youāre not someone who lives in the backcountry, but let me tell you I probably once a month or so have to yell at someone to back away from an animal as fast as possible because they donāt know how to read its body language and are unaware just how close their photoshoot is to getting them mauled. Just today I had to tell a lady to get away from a bison, because she didnāt know the way it was raising its tail was a warning sign. Itās extremely frustrating and disrespectful to the animals youāre stressing out because you want to post something cool to your feed. They live here, youāre lucky enough to visit, that should be enough for you. If you really love them, youāll leave them alone.
If youād like to hear about more harmful impacts Instagram-minded wildlife tourism has had on animals, Iād recommend this episode of National Geographicās Overheard podcast.Ā
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