Since the start of Yellowstone’s peak national park visiting period in the spring, the number of human-wildlife interactions gone wrong has been rising rapidly.
In April, a 40-year-old Idaho man named Clarence Yoder was arrested after kicking a bison near the park’s western entrance while a number of videos of visitors coming dangerously close to animals ranging from elk to bison themselves have been going viral on social media.’
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With August now coming to an end, the 20,000 elk estimated to live in Yellowstone are now entering into what is their annual mating season that tends to run until late October. As a result, the National Park Service (NPS) has put out a preventative warning around the “unprovoked and unpredictable” nature of attacks.
‘Unpredictable and much more aggressive during this time of year’
“The elk mating season, commonly referred to as the rut, has begun in Yellowstone National Park,” the NPS writes in a statement. “Bull elk are unpredictable and much more aggressive during this time of year and people have been severely injured. Elk run quickly and may change direction without warning.”
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The strategy proposed by the NPS is to “stay alert, stay away and stay safe.” The first step involves not coming within 25 yards (23 meters) of any elk one sees and backing away to that distance quietly in the situation that one does stumble upon an elk unexpectedly. Those who see one and want that once-in-a-lifetime picture are insistently encouraged to use zoom rather than come close “for just a second.”
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‘Find shelter in your vehicle or behind a tall, sturdy barrier’
“If an elk charges or runs towards you, find shelter in your vehicle or behind a tall, sturdy barrier as quickly as possible,” the NPS writes. “If nearby shelter is not available, run away.”
While incidents of tourists acting badly tend to travel farther on the internet, incidents of accidental encounters are also common.
At the start of June, an 83-year-old woman was gored when a bison snuck up behind her on a hike through Yellowstone’s Storm Point Trail and lifted her up more than a foot from the ground with its horns.
In such cases, the NPS recommends staying as still and quiet as possible while backing away slowly as acting in a panicked way is likely to make the animal feel there is a danger and act to defend itself.
Elk, which are significantly smaller than bison, are often not seen as major threats by tourists but are also the cause of in a number of catastrophic incidents every year.
In June 2023, a couple who came too close to an elk and her calf ended up getting chased to their car while trying to take a picture. While they were able to take cover, the dramatic way in which the elk charged towards them (and the way things could have gone much worse) landed them on the Tourons Of Yellowstone Instagram page.
“Give them room, use your zoom,” writes the NPS. “Never approach or pursue animals to take their picture. Lenses with focal lengths of 300mm or greater are recommended for adequate reach.”
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