Drivers who don't obey the right of way for pedestrians are frustrating enough. Those who fail to do so for wild animals struggling with winter conditions are at a whole different level.
YouTube user Yellowstone Tours (@yellowstonetours) shared a video of a snowmobile tour guide at Yellowstone National Park showing complete disregard for a herd of bison, as Unofficial Networks detailed.
In the footage taken by a member of the tour group, you see a herd of bison peacefully roaming in the middle of a snow-covered road.
Instead of obeying park rules around animals that instruct visitors to "slow down or pull over until they pass or move off the road," the tour group leader speeds by. That goes directly in the face of the park's guideline that "animals always have the right of way."
The bison are clearly disturbed by the tour group's antics, with some scurrying uncomfortably to the side of the road, and others feigning potentially dangerous charges on the snowmobiles. Unofficial Networks lent context to why the move is particularly upsetting to bison.
In the winter, bison don't migrate south to warmer areas and instead roam to areas with lower snowfall, per the World Wildlife Fund. They use their heads to move aside snow to eat grass. The National Park Service notes it is a deadly period. Nine out of 100 adults succumb to the conditions, and an even-higher 20 to 40 of every 100 calves die due to the cold, accidents, or predator attacks.
The tour guide's disobedience of the rules is unfortunately all too common when it comes to visitors' encounters with bison. These are wild animals that many visitors treat with little to no respect. Tourists have been known to approach way too close, pose for close-range pictures, and even face major consequences after unwanted interactions.
These cautionary tales show the need to vacation responsibly by following park rules, and letting animals do their own thing while safely observing from a distance.
Commenters on YouTube were alarmed by the tour guide's behavior.
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"You need to put a stop to that right now," a commenter implored.
"I would fire that guide," a viewer suggested.
"It would not have been hard for a bison to charge and ram a snowmobile," one pointed out while noting, "these are not cows."
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