It's important to pay attention to one's surroundings in nature, especially in bear country — a lesson one small group of tourists seems to have missed.
On the Instagram page Tourons of National Parks (@touronsofnationalparks), users can find a video showing several people casually standing far too close to what the post's caption identifies as a mama bear and her cub in Yosemite National Park.
While the people in the video are not taunting the animals — as is unfortunately seen fairly often in similar videos shared online — they don't even seem to notice the wild animals mere feet away. The scene sets the stage for a potentially harmful encounter.
People sometimes push the limits of safety while observing wildlife in national parks, even getting too close for a photo or trying to touch or otherwise interact with animals that can be unpredictable and dangerous.
One person recently caught tourists taunting a baby black bear for a TikTok video, a reckless decision that needlessly upset the animal and put everyone in danger.
People have also attempted to get too close to other animals, such as elk and bison. But these animals can be just as dangerous as some predators. One tourist previously suffered minor injuries while getting too close to a bull elk during mating season.
These encounters can often result in tragedy for both humans and animals, causing injury or even death. In some cases, animals have been culled — or killed — after being deemed a threat to the public.
The comments on the Yosemite video were filled with people critical of the tourists and their lack of awareness.
"They are about to become bear bait!" one person exclaimed.
Another wrote, "People are so ignorant of how to behave around wildlife."
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