World News – Tourists in Yellowstone National Park got a little too close to a mama bear’s cubs and ended up running for safety.
A black bear chased after onlookers with cameras after they surrounded three cubs on a road in the Montana section of the park last Wednesday.
In a video released by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, people run as the mother bear zigzags across the road and visitors scramble to get into their cars.
Someone yells, “Go! Keep moving!”
The tourists were “very much in danger,” Bob Gibson, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Communication and Education Program Manager, told USA TODAY Network.
“The most dangerous place is between a mom and her cubs,” Gibson said.
He says the cubs were about 13 months old so the mother was not as protective as she would have been with new cubs.
“If they had been born in the last few days it could have been much worse,” Gibson said.
The incident is a reminder that “wildlife can be unpredictable,” Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wrote in a Facebook post.
Gisbon said people should remember that “wildlife and people don’t mix well.” The park requires visitors to “stay at least 100 yards away from bears.”
Mary Bowerman, USA TODAY Network