A visitor in an RV caused a commotion at Yosemite by blocking the road to catch a better glimpse of a bear.
According to the popular Instagram page TouronsOfYellowstone (@touronsofyellowstone), the incident backed up traffic for an hour.
The touron (Turista stultus) is a common invasive species found in national parks nationwide, especially around peak seasons.
With their vulgar displays and complete absence of survival instinct, they’re pretty easy to spot.
In this instance, the footage of the tourons shows one of their defining features: complete disregard for other visitors. The clips show a long line of traffic caused by people getting out of their cars to observe wildlife.
The frustrating images demonstrate the critical importance of treating such precious natural resources with the respect they deserve.
National parks make for an outstanding and affordable vacation, but they do come with specific responsibilities. Among them, maintaining a safe distance from wildlife is crucial, as getting too close is not only dangerous for the person, but it also harms the animal by exposing it to humans.
Traffic is another big problem for the parks. It’s not just the visitors causing long delays; many animals are also killed each year by vehicles.
As the National Parks Conservation Association pointed out, between 1995 and 2012, 300 black bears were struck by cars passing through the parks. This is why some parks have moved to ban or restrict traffic, and others are considering their options.
The comments were suitably miffed by the selfish behavior on display. “It would be funny if it wasn’t so very sad!” one observed.
Another called for more enforcement against such selfish behavior, saying, “National parks need traffic enforcement.”
Another concurred, suggesting, “They need to start ticketing people on the spot.”
For others, the prospect of encountering the so-called tourons made them reluctant to visit in the summer.
“I refuse to visit most national parks in the summer,” someone said. “Fall is the best time.”
Another commenter expressed a similar sentiment, “Best trip I ever made to Yellowstone was at the end of the summer season. Hardly anyone there.”
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