A group of tourists and their children got away with a too-close encounter with a wild elk. There are definitely no guarantees for the next time.
Instagram user Michael Constance (@michaelconstance80) captured the visitors' reckless scene with the TouronsOfNationalParks (@touronsofnationalparks) account amplifying the footage.
In the video, purportedly taken in the Smoky Mountains, a number of adults and teenagers tempt fate by setting up shop in camping chairs to observe and photograph an elk at extremely close range. Surrounding them are a couple of children, as well as a younger adult crouching to take a photo mere feet away from the animal.
While the group lucks out and the elk doesn't charge, that is not something to count on at all even when the elk does not have antlers or may seem peaceful, and the danger is especially high during rutting (i.e., mating) season. A sign shown briefly in the video alludes to that danger.
The post's caption includes the guidelines around elk safety in the Smokies. The rules instruct tourists to keep a distance of 150 feet and to avoid approaching the wildlife.
Additionally, visitors are told to "keep children close." Instead, everyone is more preoccupied with capturing the best photo of the elk or securing a front-row seat than maintaining a close watch on the kids.
There are many instances where this sort of cavalier behavior towards wildlife has gone horribly wrong. Elk can be very aggressive during mating season, and may take tourists' insistence on a close-range photo as an overt threat. They also won't spare children who get too close.
The caption notes that elk were only reintroduced into the park in 2000, and that only approximately 150 live there now. That low number is significant because human interactions threaten the elk, just as much as the humans. Vets and rangers may have to euthanize elk who attack or mix with humans, even if they are the one being provoked.
For the safety of the elk and ourselves, obeying the park rules is a huge part of having a responsible vacation.
Commenters on Instagram were disillusioned by the tourists' behavior with the camp chairs drawing the most ire.
"The only smart one is in his car," one noted.
An Instagrammer correctly pointed out "those camp chairs are not going to protect their children if the elk charges them."
"The fool that sets up the camp chair broke me up," an Instagrammer bluntly observed.
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