‘I will happily send the video to the police’

While visiting a golf course in Colorado one afternoon, one of the photographers came out Good bull outdoors (@goodbulloutdoors) noticed something shocking: there appeared to be a young man on the track focused all his movements towards a group of elk grazing nearby.

The Good Bull Outdoors representative, a professional wildlife photographer, was particularly interested in the importance of respecting animals – and was accordingly angered by the cruel, senseless behavior. He immediately started recording video on his phone as the man sent one ball after another to the unsuspecting herd. Fortunately, none of them – at least none of those caught on camera – made contact.

As the young man started working again, the photographer shouted, “If you want to keep attacking the moose, I’ll be happy to send the video to the police.”

Unfortunately, he said, this was “not the first” example of such baffling behavior. “What would you do?” he wrote.

It seems like many people would do exactly the same thing as the golfer. Unfortunately, there are countless examples of people intimidating wild animals, whether or not for a photoentertainment, or just because they were there.

In Yellowstone National Park, the problem is so widespread that it is a whole Instagram page dedicated to ‘tourons’ – a combination of ‘tourist’ and ‘idiot’ – whose behavior is captured on camera. The account (@touronsofgoldstone) has more than 560,000 followers and features tourons who tempt fate by getting up close and personal with everything from bison Unpleasant bears Unpleasant moose.

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This behavior is not only cruel to the animals, it is also extremely dangerous for the tourons themselves and for the people around them. Even animals that seem disinterested or docile are still wild and should be treated with respect for everyone’s sake.

For bystanders, the Good Bull photographer’s approach is effective. Capturing this behavior on video, especially when the perpetrator’s face is visible, can help parks (or golf courses) identify the person and determine the consequences of their behavior. And hopefully, by pointing out the error of their ways, it will also instill a sense of caution and respect in the future, keeping everyone – people and animals – safe.

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