Approaching Wildlife
Approaching Wildlife belongs to the following groups:
AMERICA's National Parks and WILDLIFE Habitat and Exotic MammalsBob McKain’s great shot You don’t belong here and his noticing signs of stress and excellent decision to back off and some of the comments made there about approaching wildlife got me thinking about some wildlife situations I’ve witnessed and heard about, particularly in some State Parks & National Parks.
I spend a lot of time in Rocky Mountain State Park (RMNP) in Colorado, and other National Parks and State Parks, and I get to witness a lot of truly dangerous behavior that people display around wildlife. People seem to treat even mega-fauna as tame animals in a petting zoo.
Some of my favorite quotes overheard or questions asked to rangers:
“They wouldn’t let it (the bear/moose/elk/etc.) live here if it was dangerous.”
“It’s not dangerous – this is a national park.”
“Let’s go take a picture with it.”
“They’re so used to people they’re not dangerous.”
“What time do you feed the elk?”
“Where do you keep the bears?”
“When do the deer turn into elk?”
“Where can we buy food to feed the elk?”
The only thing that keeps these quotes from being hilariously funny are the tragic consequences when people don’t treat wildlife with the respect it deserves.
The National Park Service site has a page of videos including of wildlife attacking people that treated them with little respect and approached too closely. It’s frightening to witness these attacks.
I’ve been a witness to at least two incidents of people in RMNP approaching elk to take a picture – one person was going to place their child on the back of one for a picture! I find myself regularly cautioning people not to approach the animals, and I’m always surprised when people either ignore me or give me a rude response. It’s gotten to the point that I’m almost more concerned for the welfare of the animals rather than the people, because it’s also the animals that will suffer the negative consequences of the interaction with people.
Without trying to be on a soapbox too much or pretend that I’m more of an authority on wildlife than I actually am, allow me to humbly make a few suggestions.
1. Become familiar with the species you are photographing, and learn the signs of distress to inform you that it’s time to back off. There’s an excellent article here on signs of wildlife stress.
2. Develop and respect a system of ethical treatment of wildlife and its environment. The Nature Photographers Network (NPN) has Code of Conduct, and the North American Nature Photography Association has Principles of Ethical Field Practice
I hope I haven’t come off too preachy – that was not my intention. As photographers, I think we share a role as stewards, ambassadors, and protectors for our subjects and their environment. If we can help others less experienced and educated in these subjects and environments, we make it a better experience for everyone involved.
Lori Peters
Someone once said, “You had better respect nature, because it won’t respect you.” I live by that. It is good that you are making people aware that not all animals are pets.
Jay Ryser replied
Thanks Lori
JLDunn
Sadly, Jay, you are spot on. Many show very little common sense concerning wildlife. I have heard and seen the same behaviors myself. We get a lot of visitors here that have never seen a wild animal in its natural environment. People are killed every year for their carelessness, and lack of respect. Thanks for bringing awareness to this issue. Well said.
Jay Ryser replied
I think because of where we live and our proximity to a great range of wildlife, we may get to see that a lot!
Jay Ryser replied
I think because of where we live and our proximity to a great range of wildlife, we may get to see that a lot!
aphoto4you
well that is real inteligency and brainer…that i have seen every day in and every day out…while in field of wilderness of national parks…What do we teach in out schools???????? anything?????????? if these folks were educated in schools about animals while they attended schools as a kids maye we woudnt have to deal with these words today…After all we should take sex educations out of schools and teach these kids little more of value such as this post…...Great post Bob…when i read this i get reminded of what i have heard in the past and witnessed…Why am i sitting on 4th of july inside? because f this very same post….its very frustrated to see idiots demonstrate this…Comon we dont need education for this…comonsence tells us that above is NO NO…ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh excuse me what is comon sence???????????
dragonsnare
When I went to Yellowstone many, many years ago as we entered the park. At the entrance were two cars, one labeled what a black bear can do if you quite feeding him marshmallows.
Claw marks and a broken window. The second car had two doors ripped off and claw marks and the sign said what a mad grizzly can do, note here two of the people in the car did not survive.
The nex day as we entered the park we were told we couldn’t do the north loop it was closed due to a grizzly attack. Later we learned two campers were killed by a huge male looking for food. The campers did not properly put the food out of reach and tried to scare the bear away,he attacked. Two less campers.
People in general don’t think the rules apply to them, they know better than all the experts. After all we are humans and are better than the low life animals. What may have been taught in schools is forgotten. Ha. God made all creatures. Respect for all comes from being taught respect and earning it at home. That is if the parents themselves have learned it.
As humans we should respect the other creatures who live here also.
The reason I love zoos, is that I can go and see these creatures from other parts of the world and enjoy looking at them. Yes, I know some think zoos are cruel, but how else are we who cannot travel, or animals on the endangered list exist and experience the sight of these creatures?
I live in an Arizona desert we have many creatures best left alone here and it is their place and I respect their right to it. I also respect the desert as a place I can enjoy for its beauty.
Each of us is responsible for our own self if we cannot respect ourselves how we show respect?
Ginny York
Nicely written article Jay…and No you did not come off too preachy. It’s a good thing to inform people about wildlife and how they might react when approached. Body language is an extremely important thing to an animal who can’t talk to you. And a persons body language back to them can be just as important. Some people just don’t understand animals. Unfortunately, they are still allowed to use cameras out in the wild.