Your selfie game might be strong, but you're ruining it for everyone else.
That's the case for some visitors to Waterton Canyon in Denver, Colorado, anyway. In fact, the overabundance of selfies with bears at the park has caused officials to shut it down for the foreseeable future.
"The current situation is not conducive for the safety of our visitors or the well-being of the wildlife," Brandon Ransom, recreation manager for Denver Water (which manages Waterton Canyon's recreation area) wrote in a blog post earlier this month.
"We've actually seen people using selfie sticks to try and get as close to the bears as possible, sometimes within 10 feet of wild bears."
In the interest of safety, the park managers have closed the park until bear activity subsides. According to The Denver Channel, the closure first went into effect on Aug. 28 because two mother bears — each with twin cubs — along with other bears, were using the canyon to forage for food. However, with the abundant selfie-taking and apparent ignorance of safety measures, the closure has been extended until further notice.
"It is a poor choice from our perspective, A) to get that close to wildlife and B) to turn your back, particularly on bears," said Matt Robbins, a spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife told The Denver Channel.
Personal safety takes a backseat to the selfie game all too often — the U.S. Forest Service had to issue a request for visitors to keep their distance from wild bears in Lake Tahoe last year when too many visitors charged up closer to bears to get a photo in front of them.
Earlier this summer at Yellowstone National Park, a woman was flipped by a bison after she posed for a selfie with it. She survived, with minor injuries.
Here's hoping the Waterton Canyon's closure is a reminder that no matter how great the selfie opportunity may seem, it's never worth it to ignore the conventional wisdom of keeping your distance from a wild animal.
Fuente: mashable.com
