We all love animals, and the majority of us would do anything for them, but what about when it comes to admiring them?
Most of know how to show love to a dog or a cat and the best way to appreciate wildlife is to admire from afar.
Well, for those who may get a little overexcited and forget or those who are completely in the dark, officials from Colorado Parks & Wildlife have a warning for the public after a photo started making the rounds on the internet.
I don’t think a lot of people realize just how powerful and fast these animals really are. And if they wanted to they could get right up on you in a heart beat before you could get out of the way,” Jason Clay, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks & Wildlife, said.
The warning comes after an image surfaced showing a woman posing a child near a bull elk in Estes Park.
While the bull elk was sitting when the photo was taken, when standing they can be 5 feet tall and weigh 700 pounds.
Just recently a Colorado man was seriously injured when a bull elk charged at his golf cart. The man was hospitalized in intensive care after the elk’s antler punctured his kidney. He is expected to survive.
“These animals can get very agitated if you invade their personal space and they can charge at you,” Clay said.
Different parks have different rules regarding the distance you should maintain between yourself and a wild animal.
If you’re bad at judging, Clay suggests putting your thumb up and if it covers the animal’s entire body, you’re at a safe distance, if not you need to back up.
It can be so tempting to want to get up close to some of these magnificent creatures, but we need to remember they’re wild animals and charge at a second’s notice.
We are the ones who need to be careful, not them.
Share this important warning with everyone on Facebook.