A video of two tourists making a series of bad choices while trying to get a photo with a bull elk has gone viral on Instagram.
Colorado-based Instagrammer Good Bull Outdoors (@goodbulloutdoors) captured the footage and highlighted five unwise actions the pair took, starting with "stopping in the middle of the road."
The couple parked their car and exited to get some pictures of the elk among the trees next to the thoroughfare, and Good Bull Outdoors noted their second misstep was "ignoring the parking lot that they're literally right next to."
Other motorists would have been furious that they took such a disrespectful action, blocking the road for the sake of getting a few pictures when a safe parking spot was available nearby. But the fact the tourists got too close to the elk was perhaps even more disrespectful.
Most national parks in the United States advise remaining at least 25 yards from elk at all times, with the animals typically unpredictable and liable to charge if they feel threatened. While it's unclear where this footage was taken, it's a good rule of thumb to adhere to in any location.
These tourists were definitely not a safe distance away, and what's worse, they convinced someone else to approach closer than necessary to take their picture, which was infraction number three in Good Bull Outdoor's assessment.
Incredibly, point number four noted that the woman in the video then began to treat the highway "like a catwalk," although no video was taken of this incident because at this point the person filming thought the bull might charge.
To add insult to what could have been a serious injury, Good Bull Outdoors said the hapless tourists got one last selfie with the bull only 20 feet away.
It's a catalog of stupidity, and the couple were lucky it didn't end badly. So was the elk, as if it attacked, it would likely have been found and euthanized for fear it would do so again to another set of clueless tourists.
"Say it with me out loud…25 yards!!!" one Instagrammer commented. "Follow the rules or don't go. It's that simple."
"People just don't learn and don't seem to care," another said, with one user adding, "This isn't Disney World."
It's undoubtedly amazing to see such a magnificent creature in the wild, but for the sake of both animal and human, treat the creature with the respect it deserves, and maybe use the zoom function on your camera if you want a close-up commemorative picture.
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