Yellowstone National Park tourists actually behaved themselves and nobody was mauled when a momma grizzly with two large cubs took a stroll through the Upper Geyser Basin near Old Faithful and close to crowds of visitors.
Video of the Tuesday event captured by a National Park Service Old Faithful webcam shows people keeping a reasonably safe distance from the bears, while at the same time the bears were just out on a stroll like any other park visitor.
YNP Public Affairs Specialist Linda Veress confirmed that the bears had been sighted on the webcam, and that it’s not unheard of for grizzlies to be in that area. And at one point, the bears, tourists and a large bison all were in relatively close proximity of each other.
“Bear activity in the Old Faithful area is comparable to previous years and is normal for this time of year,” Veress says in an email.
The webcam is livestream only — video isn’t directly recorded from it. However, some viewers captured their own recordings of the bears and posted them online.
Just Out For A Walk
It shows the bears casually strolling through the basin, paying no heed to gaggles of tourists watching them from the boardwalk paths that crisscross the thermal basin.
At one point, one of the cubs breaks into a gallop and pulls ahead of its mother and sibling. But it appears to be running just out of exuberance and not charging any tourists.
Some of the visitors also appear to quicken their pace along a boardwalk, but there is no panicked running and screaming.
No Drunken Critter-Kicking This Time
Not all park visitors so far this year have been so well-behaved.
Clarance Yoder, 40, of Idaho Falls, Idaho was extremely lucky to suffer only minor injuries on April 21, when he allegedly kicked a bison while drunk.
He was arrested and charged with being under the influence of alcohol to a degree that may endanger oneself, disorderly conduct as to create or maintain a hazardous condition, approaching wildlife and disturbing wildlife.
The driver of the vehicle he was in, McKenna Bass, 37, of Idaho Falls was also arrested and cited with driving under the influence, interference for failure to yield to emergency light activation, and disturbing wildlife.
The alleged bison drunk-kicking happened near the Seven Mile Bridge on the West Entrance Road, about 7 miles east of the park’s west entrance, according to the National Park Service. It was Yellowstone’s first verified animal attack of the season.
According to park rules, visitors should stay at least 100 yards away from grizzlies and wolves, and 25 yards away from all other wildlife.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
