A Canadian bus driver has been branded a “moron” after plowing through a herd of protected bison blocking a road in Yellowstone National Park.
Photos of his 27-tonne vehicle clearing the animals off the mountain road were posted to the Facebook group YNP: Invasion of Idiots by park user Rhea Circale after she saw the maneuver on Sunday.
Circale said he would report the driver of British Columbia-based Blue Star Coachlines for scaring the 2,000-pound animals as they wandered past a line of stuck cars in America’s first national park.
“We were all waiting for the bison and this jerk went on the wrong side of the road and forced the herd off the road,” he wrote.
‘One of the bison jumped out of their way. Unfortunately I didn’t get the passenger vehicle which did the same.’
The driver of the Canadian bust became trapped behind a line of cars waiting patiently for the herd to leave the road.
Seconds later, the driver grew tired and drove away, cutting through the animals scattering in front of the 27-tonne vehicle.
The move sparked fierce debate after it was posted in the Facebook group Yellowstone National Park: Invasion of the Idiots.
The Facebook group, which has more than 300,000 members, documents the foolish and dangerous behavior exhibited by some of the park’s 4.5 million visitors each year.
But the post sparked a furious debate over who has the right of way when animals stray onto the road.
The park’s website offers no guidance and some suggested they had even seen park rangers weaving their way through herds entertaining themselves.
“Driving among buffalo (sic) is no different than driving among a herd of cattle moving down a road,” said Stacy Bragg.
‘Take the path of least resistance and they will get out of the way. This causes no distress or harm to buffaloes or livestock.’
“When I worked in Grand Teton NP, bear and buffalo jams were considered a major public safety issue, as it doesn’t take much backup to shut down the entire park, especially during peak season,” wrote Bentley Hugh Fortner.
‘Emergency vehicles get stuck in the same traffic. So do the rangers who try to play whack-a-mole by stopping the tourons from doing something stupid like putting a small child on top of a bison for the perfect social media post.
American bison once numbered in the tens of millions, but Yellowstone became the last place they survived in the wild after the others were hunted to extinction.
A pamphlet distributed by the National Park Service to people entering Yellowstone National Park warns visitors not to get too close to the bison.
A video shows another woman taking a selfie, just inches from the enormous beast in Yellowstone National Park.
A woman came dangerously close to being gored by a bison while trying to pet a bison in Yellowstone National Park.
A couple walks near a bison calf without respecting the park’s 25-foot distance rule about staying away from wildlife.
There are now about 3,700 in the park, divided into two herds across its 2.2 million acres, and all descended from 23 original survivors.
“Wildlife is not domestic livestock,” wrote the environmental charity Cloud Foundation.
‘Human beings must stop and wait until they move. Interfering with any wild wildlife behavior is harassment.’
“It’s a shame so many people are in a hurry to get through the park,” added Sue Yogerst.
‘Maybe this isn’t a good holiday option if you’re always in a hurry!’
Park officials warn that bison can run three times faster than humans and have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal.
In 2019, a nine-year-old girl was thrown 10 feet into the air by a charging bison in the park as her parents struggled to safety, and last summer a 47-year-old woman was airlifted to the hospital after being gored in the chest.
The park warns visitors to stay at least 25 meters from the beasts, but the facebook page is rapidly accumulating posts about the imbecile tourists it has dubbed ‘tourons’.
“We’re already seeing new levels of stupidity this year,” host Jen Mignard said. Cowboy State Diary.
“The first real incident with a touron I saw was a few days ago,” Mignard said. ‘Someone was lying in the middle of the road, taking a photo of a bison as it walked up the hill towards it.
“I bet they let him get within 20 feet, then they jumped out and ran off the road.”
Coach driver Duane Wettstein defended the Canadian driver and said he had not broken any rules.
“We (I’m a driver) have instructions to do this,” he insisted. “So as not to increase congestion.”
Meme posted on April 20, 2024 in the Facebook group – Yellowstone National Park: Invasion of the Idiots by Facebook user Tim Owen. Owen wrote: ‘I received my Yellowstone bingo card! I wonder how many of the stupid things the stupid visitor does I’ll write down this season.
But local tour operator Alvin Heggie said the rules were clear.
“We are not supposed to impede, force or otherwise influence wildlife behavior in any way,” he explained.
‘While we are in the park, we can watch wildlife, but they are supposed to take priority.
It is your home and we are there to visit you. I don’t care if there are 100 cars in front of you. Just wait.’
Dailymail.com has asked Bluestar for comment.