Please, If You Love Animals, Leave Them Be

Especially when you travel

Yesterday an article popped up on my phone that made my heart sink (my new phone keeps sending me notifications about news stories even though I don’t want to read the news, and I can’t figure out how to stop it — but that’s a different story). A bison calf in Yellowstone had been euthanized because it had been rejected by its herd after a park visitor handled it (source). The man who had handled the bison in this case seemingly had good intentions — the calf had been struggling to cross a river — but by doing so had instead ensured its death.

The first time I learned about the importance of not approaching wild animals, I was only about four or five years old. When I was growing up, my family lived near the Rocky Mountains, and we would frequently hike and camp in both state and national parks nearby.

A sight that we saw frequently was park visitors feeding the chipmunks and other wildlife. As a little kid who loved animals, I of course wanted to join in. But my parents told me how important it was not to do this, and even took me to a lecture given by a park ranger about wildlife in the parks. He explained that feeding or trying to pet the wildlife was dangerous both for us and the animals, and often caused them to become too reliant on humans for food.

Despite these warnings, however, people continue to break rules set by the parks. When I visited Yellowstone, I saw people approaching the bison — sometimes getting within a few feet of them — to take pictures, while others once again tried to feed some of the smaller wildlife. It made me angry, because they were not only endangering themselves, but all the animals as well. If a bison gets frightened and gores someone, the person often ends up in the hospital, while the bison gets euthanized. Do people really think a cool picture is worth that?

This type of behavior isn’t limited to the parks, though, nor is it limited to the United States. When I was in Portugal earlier this year, there were many peacocks roaming on the grounds of Castelo de Sao Jorge. They were beautiful, but I thought it best to give them their distance. Other people clearly didn’t share this opinion. They got right in the birds’ faces to get photos. Some people were even chasing the peacocks when they tried to get away.

There are plenty of domesticated animals that need homes. So please, if you love animals, and you want to be able to feed and pet and cuddle them, go to your local shelter and adopt one. Don’t harass the wildlife — especially when you’re visiting protected natural areas.

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