- I was born and raised in Helena, Montana, and I visit my family there several times a year.
- Throughout the years, I’ve witnessed and heard about tourists engaging in unacceptable and frankly foolish behavior.
- But the worst offense of all is interfering with the state’s wildlife.
Having grown up in Montana and being an avid traveler, I can confidently say that Montana is an extraordinary vacation destination.
The state’s untouched natural beauty and seemingly infinite horizon have earned it the nickname Big Sky Country, attracting millions of visitors each year. According to data from the Institute of Tourism and Recreation Research, around 12.5 million people visited Montana in 2022.
Considering Montana’s population is just over one million, that’s a significant influx of tourists. And with such a large number of people coming into the state, there are bound to be some mishaps here and there.
While there aren’t many things that aggravate us locals to the core — feel free to dress like Kevin Costner in “Yellowstone” if that makes you happy — there is one thing that never fails to infuriate us: disrupting the wildlife.
Every year, we hear new stories about unruly tourists, with the most egregious offenses typically occurring in Yellowstone National Park, which is shared with Wyoming and Idaho. The extent of this poor behavior is so widespread that an Instagram page called “Tourons Of Yellowstone” is solely dedicated to documenting it.
Just this month, footage from the page showed hordes of excited tourists crowding a bear and her cubs. In June, a viral video captured a shirtless man chasing a bear.
Although no injuries were reported in either incident, it’s not uncommon for such incidents to result in harm.
NBC News reports that several tourists have been gored by bison in recent years. Often, it’s the animals who suffer the consequences of human interaction.
In May, a baby bison had to be euthanized after a tourist attempted to assist it across a river, as stated in a news release from the US Department of Justice District of Wyoming. The same thing happened in 2016 when a group of tourists placed a bison calf in their car, thinking it appeared “cold.”
Following the 2016 incident, the National Park Service issued a statement warning visitors about approaching wildlife, emphasizing the detrimental impact it can have on their well-being and survival.
Park regulations require visitors to maintain a distance of at least 300 feet from bears and wolves, and 75 feet from deer, bison, and other animals.
It’s high time for tourists to heed these warnings.
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