Jody Tibbitts, a tour guide at Yellowstone National Park witnessed the whole incident.
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A woman visiting Yellowstone National Park was charged by an elk on Friday after inching closer to the wild animal, camera extended in front of her, in hopes of getting a better photo.
Tibbetts, who shared the clip on Facebook and has worked at the park since 1991, warns the woman by asking “ma’am, ma’am could you please.”.
“It won’t happen again”, the woman can be heard saying after the charge.
“You never know what can happen with a wild animal”, Tibbitts says.
The NPS Yellowstone National Park app is now available from the Apple App Store, and an Android version will be available soon.
Specifically visitors should stay at least 25 yards away from the moose, elk, bison and other animals they may encounter.
At the same time, a woman not with the tour group quickly approached the elk by foot. “That’s a huge problem”.
But we have to be careful about just how close we get.
“I’m sure it won’t”, Tibbitts said. “I’ve even seen folks chase bears into the woods for a picture”.
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This incident comes after a bison calf was euthanized earlier this month after several Yellowstone tourists put the animal into the back of a vehicle because they were anxious it was cold. Preserving nature in a way that allows for the kind of rich human interaction that national parks do requires an effort on the part of tourists to respect wildlife in a way they may not be used to.
