Folks, those are not dairy cows: Despite plenty of videos circulating online of bison running up hills and charging at tourists, that message hasn’t sunk in. A poster on the r/NationalPark subreddit shared an egregious example of tourists underestimating the risks of wild animals.
Photo Credit: Reddit
They sarcastically gave voice to the oblivious tourists with their title: “That little fence will protect us!” The photo shows multiple tourists observing the bison from a mere 5-10 feet away, while one enthusiastic visitor even turns their back for a selfie.
This is pretty reckless behavior because if the bison took offense, the tourists would have little time to get out of harm’s way. As the original poster noted, a fence is of little worry to bison. YouTuber Fy Nyth put that on display with a video showing bison easily scaling one in Wyoming with no run-up.
There’s a reason the National Park Service recommends keeping a distance of 100 feet away from bison. While bison are often chill, that doesn’t mean they can’t be provoked or are always in the mood for humans to push their buttons and use them in impromptu photo shoots.
These unwanted interactions can end poorly for humans, leading to serious injuries. Turning your back on a wild animal at short range is ill-advised, and there are plenty of examples of the animals using it as an opportunity to make a run at an unsuspecting tourist.
It can also go poorly for the animals, which can face euthanasia if they become violent toward humans or get rejected by their herd due to an excess of human interactions.
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Visitors to the subreddit sounded off on the tourists in the comments.
“Too many people treat national parks like they’re at the zoo,” one wrote.
“I remember a ranger saying some people have asked him where the animals go to get inside at night,” a commenter followed up.
One Redditor jokingly referenced Lucille Bluth of “Arrested Development” to represent the tourists’ mindset: “It’s a bison, Michael, how high could it jump? 2, 3 inches? They’re gigantic.”
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