Yellowstone Officials Investigating Man Who Jumped From His Car to Harass Black Bears
Summer tourism season hasn't even officially started yet, but Yellowstone National Park has already seen a surge in irresponsible behavior from visitors in recent months. And this latest incident—in which a man filmed himself flagrantly harassing black bears—just may be the most "egregious" example yet.
The videos were first posted to the Tourons Of Yellowstone Instagram account, which puts bad behavior on blast from so-called "tourist-morons." They show an unidentified man jumping out the driver's side door of a vehicle while a second person films. In at least two separate incidents, the man can be seen chasing after black bears and making barking noises as the confused animals run away.
In the first of the two videos, which have since been uploaded to YouTube, the man rips off his shirt after successfully spooking the bear, appearing to make gorilla noises in celebration of his stunt.
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It's presently unclear whether or not the incidents actually took place within the boundaries of the park, officials are nonetheless investigating.
"We are aware of this egregious incident, and it is under investigation," Park Service spokeswoman Morgan Warthin said in an email to Cowboy State Daily. "We are not confident that the incident occurred in Yellowstone National Park."
Not shockingly, the publication spoke with two bear experts, neither of whom would have had much sympathy if the man had indeed been attacked by one of the bears.
"That dude is an ass," said Joe Kondelis, an avid bear hunter and American Bear Foundation president. "Regardless of his safety, it’s harassing wildlife, which makes me even more mad. A guy like that deserves to have his ass kicked by a bear."
"Such an individual as that should be banned from the park and all other public lands for at least five years," added retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal, who has studied bears for decades. "That’s completely irrational behavior, there’s no way he can explain his way out of this, just throw him out of the park.”
Meanwhile, a third incident has been documented by the Tourons Of Yellowstone account. This time, the bear wasn't quite so intimidated and even made a false charge at the man sending him running back to his car, hopefully putting an end to the shenanigans before he gets himself (or a bear) killed.
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In response to repeated run-ins—including one incident that led to a bison calf being euthanized, as well as several incidents in which tourists attempted to take photos near potentially dangerous animals—Yellowstone was forced to issue an urgent call for visitors to protect wildlife and respect safety regulations.
"Approaching wild animals can drastically affect their well-being and, in some cases, their survival," the statement read. "When an animal is near a campsite, trail, boardwalk, parking lot, on a road, or in a developed area, leave it alone and give it space."
