Most people have enough sense to not try to sneak up on a wild mama bear and her cubs. But a recent video filmed at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming captured footage of a tourist who is not one of those people.
@chelsealaneee On our recent trip to GTNP😱 Docked our boat, hustled to our vehicle to leave the area after seeing the BEAR & her cubs! Who in their right mind would think it's okay to keep harassing a Mama & her cubs?! • • ‼️DO NOT APPROACH WILDLIFE‼️ #bears #bearsoftiktok #baiter #bearbaiter #touronsofyellowstone #grandtetonnationalpark #findher ♬ Oh No - Kreepa
"Who in their right mind would think it's okay to keep harassing a Mama & her cubs?!" wrote chelsealanee (@chelsealanee), who filmed the video and posted it to TikTok.
The video shows a woman slowly walking toward a bear cub as Chelsea narrates. "Here we are at Grand Teton National Park, and she is taunting the bear." Later in the video, someone else says, "I've got [$20] on the bear."
Anyone who has ever seen The Revenant or is just generally familiar with the concept of bears would probably be pretty wary of engaging in behavior like this.
"The vast majority of bear attacks have occurred when people surprised a bear. In this situation the bear may attack as a defensive maneuver. The bear may be protecting young or defending a carcass," the bear encounters page of the Grand Teton National Park Service website explains.
"Bears may appear tolerant of people and then attack without warning," the page adds.
Unfortunately, there are far too many tourists who do not heed these warnings and instead get as close as possible to these deadly wild animals in the hopes of getting a blurry camera phone picture or just some really bad memories.
These encounters are obviously dangerous for humans, but they are dangerous for the bears as well. Wild animals that are provoked into attacking people may end up getting euthanized as they are deemed a threat. That means that these encounters are stressful for other tourists, the animals themselves, and the park rangers who are tasked with protecting them — for everyone except, apparently, the tourists who are placing themselves in the most imminent physical danger.
The comments on the TikTok video were not kind to the tourist who approached the bears in Grand Teton.
"I f****** hate people," wrote one commenter.
"Damn I was hoping to see her get eaten," wrote another.
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