One hiker was distressed to see the way a family allowed their child to interact with an animal in Montana's Glacier National Park.
"WTF is wrong with people," they wrote on the park's subreddit page. "I was up at avalanche lake today and witnessed a kid hit a chipmunk across the back with a stick. I assume it broke the poor creature's back because it started spazzing out and the parents kinda just shrugged it off (or at least that what it appeared/I saw). The kid also appeared to be old enough to know better."
Commenters were aghast at the cruelty.
"Just why?" one person asked. "Poor little creature. Hope the suffering was short lived."
"Some people treat the park like a zoo and it's disturbing," one said.
"Worse than a zoo," another argued. "At least in a zoo the animals are physically separated from the dangerous humans."
"Please tell me this was brought to the attention of a ranger," one person said. "I'm sick over this."
The OP replied that they couldn't find a ranger in person as they were visiting late in the day, but they filed a report online. And while it likely will never reach the perpetrators of this particular incident, it can hopefully help to shape the NPS prevention efforts and responses to other similarly destructive behaviors.
While the majority of park visitors to a place like Glacier come and go under the principles of Leave No Trace, others don't follow the creed of conservation and protection. Whether they're risking a dangerous wildlife encounter for a selfie, straying off trail and destroying fragile habitat or historic sites, littering, or leaving bags of dog poop, not all visitors seem to understand that parks like Glacier were created to conserve and protect natural beauty.
"Why do people go to parks at all if not to ENJOY nature?" one person lamented. "Instead they're harassing wildlife."
It's why some parks around the world have started cracking down in clever ways, from mailing back trash to identifying rule-breakers using social media posts. And as a park visitor, keeping an eye out for illegal and destructive behavior is the first line of defense.
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