National parks are one of our country's greatest treasures, and few places in the United States provide better chances for people to connect with and learn about nature.
But, as social media continues to show, some people abuse the privilege these parks afford and take unnecessary risks that put themselves and wildlife at risk.
The latest such example comes in a video shared on Instagram earlier this month by wildlife photographer Ben Bluhm (@benbwildlife). The clip shows several bull moose surrounding a pickup truck in Grand Teton National Park and occasionally nuzzling up against it.
Their behavior is fascinating to watch, but less exciting are the actions of people who decided they should get frighteningly close to the animals.
"A pretty crazy and chaotic scene," Bluhm wrote. "Not only were these big bulls giving that car a moose wash (which I have never seen before), there were many people too close to these moose for an extended period of time."
One person in particular stood within a few feet of a moose to take photographs.
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"No respect being shown for wildlife here," one commenter wrote. "You got to learn to love the wildlife more than you love your trophy photographs of them."
So many examples exist of tourists behaving badly at national parks that several popular social media accounts are devoted to sharing videos of it. Many of these clips feature people getting too close to wildlife and not treating animals with the respect they deserve.
But even by those standards, getting right on top of a moose seems dangerous. Bull moose can stand six feet tall at their shoulders — not even including their antlers — and weigh more than 1,000 pounds.
The National Park Service urges people to stay at least 25 yards away from moose and pay attention to signs that the animal is agitated, such as its ears being laid back. It recommends running away from a moose if necessary and hiding behind something solid if it charges, like a tree or car.
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Definitely 👍 Many of the people in this video did none of these things, but fortunately, the moose walked away and no one got hurt. Commenters agreed that, while seeing moose is an incredible experience, approaching them is a recipe for disaster.
"It's time to take a stand against these types of photographers who harass the animals and give the rest of us a bad name," one wrote.
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