Surely walking your toddler right up to a bison at Yellowstone National Park counts as child endangerment?
Unfortunately, there’s an epidemic that hits Yellowstone every summer… and it only affects individuals who don’t have enough common sense to give wildlife personal space. We see it time and time (and time) again, and the latest example of tourists getting way too close for comfort to an animal might be one of the worst ones we’ve ever seen.
Jennifer Gunderson, a retired photographer, was visiting Yellowstone National Park with her husband Rob to celebrate their anniversary. They were the ones who documented a truly terrifying moment when a couple walked their toddler right up next to a sizable bison. Jennifer told FOX 31 that she and her husband had often seen the viral videos online of people getting too close to wild animals at Yellowstone, but never thought they’d see it happen in person:
“We’d been watching the tourists of Yellowstone for the past couple of years and thought, there’s just no way people do this in person. And sure enough, we were witnessing it as live as life could be. Shocking. Honestly, it was shocking. I didn’t… I can understand if you want to go up and think you can get close to a bison, but to bring a small toddler?”
In the video, the mother of the small toddler can be seen walking the little girl towards the bison, and then letting go of the small child’s hand… seemingly encouraging the toddler to run towards the grazing, 2,000 pound beast. This all went down near the Pebble Creek area of the park, and the footage is almost hard to believe.
But trust me, it’s as real as it gets. The dangerous situation played out despite multiple warnings directed at the mother and her child, as Jennifer Gunderson explained in the caption of her post:
“Never in a million years did we think we would witness such stupidity. Everyone, including us, told them to get back before we started recording. Others called park rangers at the time this occurred. Warnings are posted throughout the parks and in literature to stay back from wildlife.”
Jennifer Gunderson is right in saying that warnings are posted everywhere.
The National Park Service advises tourists to stay 25 yards away from animals that are deemed “non-violent.” That list includes bison, elk, and other creatures that tend to be relatively docile – though docile is a relative term. When it comes to bears, wolves, and other apex predators, the NPS warns park goers to keep 100-yards between them and the animals.
Maybe they should just go ahead and stretch that number out to 100-yards for every animal, eh? I’m just saying that because we get far too many press releases from Yellowstone National Park explaining how a somehow unaware tourist dangerously approached a wild animal inside the park, then proceeded to pay the price. Fortunately for this mother and her child, they were able to walk away unharmed.
Regardless, it’s a parent’s job to protect their child… and this woman was doing the exact opposite with her toddler while in Yellowstone National Park. Rob Gunderson reiterated to the local news station that it was shocking to see people disregard signage and willingly put themselves in danger:
“There are signs everywhere. But yet nobody pays attention to them, let alone, you know… I get it as an adult. You’re thinking, ‘Oh, it won’t happen to me.’ But you’re going to do it with your kids and all that? That’s what really dumbfounded us on all of it.”
There are dumb tourists everywhere for those with eyes to see… unfortunately.
