A recent video posted by the Instagram account Tourons of National Parks (@touronsofnationalparks) showed exactly what not to do while visiting a lookout.
The clip captured a tourist standing right on the ledge of a cliff in Canyonlands National Park, beyond the designated fenced-in area.
Sadly, this kind of irresponsible behavior has been seen before in the park. The National Park Service has clear rules about staying on designated paths, and it's important to follow them.
Fences are put up in these areas for entirely sensible safety reasons, but there's more to them than just preventing falls. When people go off-path, they wear down vegetation that wildlife depends upon. This can often be very slow-growing, like moss, making a scant resource even less available. This level of visitor-caused erosion has been seen in at least one park in Norway, for example.
Besides eliminating feeding opportunities, humans' presence can scare wildlife further afield. When visitors actively harass wildlife outside of bounds, the problem is multiplied. This kind of contact alienates animals from vital resources and fragments habitat even more than it already is.
Once taught to avoid areas where people visit, wildlife then has limited mating opportunities, which is bad news for threatened species that need a deep genetic pool to recover.
You can do your part by simply following the rules, documenting those that break them, and reporting problems as they come up.
More generally, it's possible to take local action by advocating for more protections of natural spaces. This gives wildlife access to all the resources it needs without rubbing shoulders with humans. It also empowers personnel to enforce rules and keep park visitors safe.
After seeing one visitor approach a cliff's edge in Canyonlands, Instagram commenters were baffled that tourists would endanger themselves in national parks for no good reason.
"Guys like this really think they're the main character," said one community member.
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"The levels of entitlement and vanity are beyond comprehension," replied another.
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