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Mother Black Bear Chases Yellowstone Tourists Who Get Too Close To Her Cubs

BACK OFF: Mama Bear Chases Tourists Who Get Too Close To Cubs
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Overnight Editor, HuffPost

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Don't mess with mama bear.

Tourists in Yellowstone National Park learned that lesson the hard way last Wednesday when they got too close to a trio of cubs.

The National Park Service has a number of rules about viewing bears, and these tourists seem to have violated nearly all of them. NPS says to keep a distance of 100 yards (300 feet) and stay in your car when you spot the creatures along roads.

"The most dangerous place is between a mom and her cubs," Bob Gibson, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Communication and Education Program Manager, told USA Today, saying the tourists were "very much in danger."

Since the cubs were about 13 months old, the mama bear wasn't as protective as she might have been. But when the she trotted toward the tourists, most of them quickly scattered.

"Had they been the young of the year and 10 days old, the mom would have been all over the tourists," Gibson told NBC News.

The bear vs. tourists footage was captured by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks photographer Winston Greely near the community of Gardiner, a Yellowstone gateway community.

"It serves as a reminder that wildlife can be unpredictable. For your safety and theirs, respect wildlife and give them room to roam," the agency wrote on its Facebook page. "View and photograph from established observation areas. Stay a safe distance to reduce stress on wildlife. Luckily, no one was hurt and these bears made it safely back to the forest."

"It's a beautiful animal we can all enjoy," wildlife expert Jack Hanna told ABC News. "It's their home. Treat them with respect and film them at a distance, that's all."

For more information on bear safety in Yellowstone, visit the NPS website.

(h/t Washington Post)

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Before You Go

Yellowstone
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FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 15, 1997 file photo, an unidentified pair of visitors to the Yellowstone National Park photograph the Old Faithful geyser as it rockets 100-feet skyward in Wyoming. Hundreds of small earthquakes at Yellowstone National Park in recent weeks have been an unsettling reminder for some people that underneath the park's famous geysers and majestic scenery lurks one of the world's biggest volcanoes. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File) (credit:AP)
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FILE - This graphic provided by University of Utah geophysicists shows the first large-scale picture of the electrical conductivity of the gigantic underground plume of hot and partly molten rock that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano. The plume of molten rock feeding the supervolcano under the surface of Yellowstone National Park is much larger than previously thought, according to University of Utah geophysicists whose findings will be published in Geophysical Research Letters. (AP Photo/University of Utah, File) (credit:AP)
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Steamboat Geyser, in Yellowstone National Park's Norris Geyser Basin in Wyoming, erupts on Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Steamboat Geyser the world's tallest has erupted for the first time in more than eight years. Park geologist Hank Heasler says Wednesday night's nine-minute blast sent steaming hot water an estimated 200 to 300 feet in the air. (AP Photo/Robb Long) (credit:AP)
USA Wyoming Yellowstone National Park Hot springs with ashen pool of acid dissolved mud and clay in the foreground...(04 of29)
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USA Wyoming Yellowstone National Park Hot springs with ashen pool of acid dissolved mud and clay in the foreground (credit:PA)
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FILE - In this Wednesday, July 6, 2011, file photo, a grizzly bear roams near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wy. Federal officials have reported a dramatic increase in bear numbers in recent decades and estimate more than 700 now live in and around Yellowstone National Park. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart,File) (credit:AP)
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FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2006 photo provided by Yellowstone National Park, a gray wolf is seen on the run near Blacktail Pond in Yellowstone National Park in Park County, Wyo. The Obama administration on Friday June 7, 2013, will propose lifting federal protections for gray wolves across most of the Lower 48 states, a move that would end four decades of recovery efforts but has been criticized by some scientists as premature. (AP Photo/Yellowstone National Park, File) (credit:AP)
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In this May 29, 2013 handout photo provided by Rita Soza, Geoff Soza poses for a picture in front of Spasm Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Soza may have exposed himself to a national outbreak of hepatitis A, possibly from his healthy morning eating habits. (AP Photo/Rita Soza) (credit:AP)
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In this April 5, 2012 photo provided by the U.S. National Park Service shows the black female wolf 831F, a member of pack at the Yellowstone National Park, Mont. A big game outfitter shot and killed this female collared research wolf from Yellowstone National Park last Sunday, over the weekend after losing more than a dozen sheep to wolves two weeks ago. (AP Photo/National Park Service) (credit:AP)
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This photo released Wyoming Department of Transportation showing snow blowers bearing the state flag helping clear Yellowstone National Park's East Entrance Road on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. The machinery was just west of Sylvan Pass and about 10 miles inside Yellowstone's East Entrance. A public-private effort is underway to open the park's East and South entrances on time this spring despite federal budget cuts that have delayed plowing. (AP Photo/Cody Beers, Wyoming Department of Transportation) (credit:AP)
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FILE - This Feb. 4, 2011 file photo shows bison grazing near the U.S. Route 89 highway just outside of Gardiner, Mont. Hundreds of bison have left the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park this winter in search of food. The annual hunt for wild bison migrating from Yellowstone National Park has hit its highest level in decades. Driven by strong participation from American Indian tribes, roughly 250 of the animals have been killed this season after leaving Yellowstone for winter range at lower elevations in Montana.(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file) (credit:AP)
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FILE - This undated file image provided by Yellowstone National Park, Mont., shows a gray wolf in the wild. Western environmental groups say they're alarmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a plan to end federal protections for gray wolves in areas where the animals no longer exist. (AP Photo/National Park Service, MacNeil Lyons, File) (credit:AP)
wolf, wolved, elk(12 of29)
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This May 2007 photo by National Park Service photographer Doug Smith shows a Leopold wolf pack hunting a bull elk in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Restrictions on gray wolf harvests around Yellowstone are under consideration as the state prepares to kick off its inaugural wolf trapping season Dec. 15. Conservation groups want limits on trapping after several wolves collared by park scientists for research were shot by Montana hunters in recent weeks. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Doug Smith) -; Doug Smith; May 2007 (credit:AP)
Wolf, wolves(13 of29)
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This March, 2007 photo provided by National Park Service photographer Doug Smith shows a Gibbon wolf pack standing on snow in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Restrictions on gray wolf harvests around Yellowstone are under consideration as the state prepares to kick off its inaugural wolf trapping season on Dec. 15, 2012. Conservation groups want limits on trapping after several wolves collared by park scientists for research were shot by Montana hunters in recent weeks. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Doug Smith) (credit:AP)
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FILE - This July 6, 2011 file photo shows a grizzly bear roaming near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Wildlife managers in the Northern Rockies are laying the groundwork for trophy grizzly bear hunts in the Northern Rockies as the government moves toward lifting the animals' threatened species status. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart, File) (credit:AP)
USA Wyoming Yellowstone National Park. Old Faithful Geyser. Clouds of spray and steam with pine forest beyond....(15 of29)
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USA Wyoming Yellowstone National Park. Old Faithful Geyser. Clouds of spray and steam with pine forest beyond. (credit:PA)
USA Wyoming Yellowstone National Park Detail of Minerva rock terraces...(16 of29)
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USA Wyoming Yellowstone National Park Detail of Minerva rock terraces (credit:PA)
USA Wyoming Yellowstone People looking into Morning Glory hot pool in the National Park. Ochre and turquoise rock...(17 of29)
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USA Wyoming Yellowstone People looking into Morning Glory hot pool in the National Park. Ochre and turquoise rock (credit:PA)
USA Wyoming Yellowstone National Park. Geysers at West Thumb....(18 of29)
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USA Wyoming Yellowstone National Park. Geysers at West Thumb. (credit:PA)
US-PARKS-YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK(19 of29)
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A small herd of buffalo drink from a pond October 9, 2012 in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. It was established in 1872. Yellowstone extends through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park's name is derived from the Yellowstone River, which runs through the park. AFP PHOTO/Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
US-PARKS-YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK(20 of29)
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River otters wrestle in Pelican Creek October 9, 2012 in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. It was established in 1872. Yellowstone extends through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park's name is derived from the Yellowstone River, which runs through the park. AFP PHOTO/Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
US-PARKS-YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK(21 of29)
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River Otters huddle near Pelican Creek October 9, 2012 in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. It was established in 1872. Yellowstone extends through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park's name is derived from the Yellowstone River, which runs through the park. AFP PHOTO/Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
US-PARKS-YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK(22 of29)
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Tourists stroll on a steamy boardwalk at Midway Geyser Basin October 8, 2012 in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Yellowstone, which protects 10,000 or so geysers, mudpots, steamvents, and hot springs, is America's first national park. Established in 1872, Yellowstone extends through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park's name is derived from the Yellowstone River, which runs through the land. AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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FILE - This April 24, 2012 photo shows bison on the Fort Peck Reservation near Poplar, Mont. A Montana judge halted further transfers of Yellowstone National Park bison on Wednesday, May 9, 2012 dealing a significant blow to a government-sponsored conservation effort struggling to overcome livestock industry opposition. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown) (credit:AP)
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FILE - This March 17, 2011 file photo shows bison roaming outside the gate of Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Mont. Montana is looking more and more to individual hunters to kill problem animals, including wolves that are well into their reproductive cycles and wild bison that roam beyond designated areas. One regulator says the proposed policies are unwittingly putting hunters in fix: Would they be participating in ethical hunts or would they be reduced to wildlife management mercenaries? (AP Photo/Janie Osborne) (credit:AP)
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FILE - In this March 17,2011 file photo Bison roam out of the entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Mont. Montana is looking more and more to individual hunters to kill problem animals, including wolves that are well into their reproductive cycles and wild bison that roam beyond designated areas. One regulator says the proposed policies are unwittingly putting hunters in fix: Would they be participating in ethical hunts or would they be reduced to wildlife management mercenaries? (AP Photo/Janie Osborne,File) (credit:AP)
YELLOWSTONE PARK BISON(26 of29)
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** FILE ** A bison digs under the snow to graze inside Yellowstone National Park, Mont., in this undated photograph provided by the National Park Service. State and federal agencies will reveal today what plans they've got in store for Yellowstone bison this winter amid pressure from surrounding communities to keep the animals in the park. (AP Photo/National Park Service, File) (credit:AP)
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This Dec. 23, 2011 photo shows the Upper Geyser Basin at sunset in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Most wintertime visitors choose to tour Yellowstone by snowcoach or snowmobile. But there's really no better way to become immersed in the park than with a pair of skis. There are some easy outings, such as the trails around the Upper Geyser Basin. Then there are the tougher ones, including arduous trails to the Continental Divide. (AP Photo/Matt Volz) (credit:AP)
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File - This undated file handout photo shows a withering aspen grove in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Researchers say the reintroduction of wolves to the park has decreased elk populations, which in turn has allowed new growth in aspen, willow and cottonwood trees that in the past were eaten by elk. (AP Photo/Oregon State University, File) (credit:AP)
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This undated image provided by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks shows an elk in the wild in Montana. Montana officials are turning new attention to elk as the source of the disease brucellosis following a string of infections in livestock, with plans to alter management of the popular big game species in parts of the state around Yellowstone National Park.(AP Photo/Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks) (credit:AP)
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