Stupid is as stupid does.
And stupidity might be contagious in Yellowstone National Park, judging by some of the videos that we see that take place at the famous park. Yellowstone’s main export is stunning views, but coming in at a very close second is “dumb people approaching wildlife” videos.
Your parents might have used the comeback of “Well, if everyone was jumping off a bridge, would you do it too?” at some point in your life. The first part of that could just as easily be “If everyone was walking up to a herd of bison.”
That’s what the group of people in this footage must have been thinking as they got dangerously close to a herd of bison within the national park. The NPS suggests that tourists stay at least 25 yards away from wildlife such as bison, and that number goes up to 100 yards for animals like bears and wolves.
There was not a single person following those guidelines in this decade-old footage. Most of the tourists were too busy filming the bison from way too close, or posing for photo opportunities with bison in the background.
It’s almost common sense (for some people) to not have your back turned to a wild animal. The worst thing you can do is give too much trust to wildlife that are used to fighting for their life on a daily basis.
With that being said, a concerning number of people in the video were treating the wild bison like Yellowstone National Park was one big petting zoo. The bison could have easily went on the offensive at any point, but fortunately for the morons at Yellowstone that day, the big beasts let them off easy.
Hopefully they got some good close up videos and photos with bison in the background in the process. If you’re going to be stupid, you might as well have something to show for it:
