A tourist who did not see any bears while visiting the Yellowstone National Park made their disappointment known when they left a note suggesting the bears undergo training to be more visible to humans.
A guest at the National Park Lodge filled out a form essentially complaining about the lack of bears.
Yes, it sounds crazy, but we have the photographic proof.
The note read: “Our visit was wonderful but we never saw any bears. Please train your bears to be where guests can see them. This was an expensive trip to not get to see bears.”
What would that kind of training look like, exactly? Should the bear be trained to emerge from a bush when it sees a DSLR camera? Maybe if there’s an extra long lens, it should do a little run in a highly visible area? Perhaps an iPhone should trigger the bear to stand on its hind legs for at least 5-seconds, giving the tourist ample time to send a Snapchat?
As for the process of selecting the right bears fit to train, mother bears with young cubs would be given priority as baby bears are the most highly coveted photo op for tourists. (Second best is a grizzly bear growling.)
The Yellowstone National Park website puts the odds of seeing a bear as “not too bad,” noting that “visitors reported more than 40,000 bear sighting between 1980 and 2011.”
According to the website, most grizzly bear sightings occur at night, dawn, and dusk during the spring and early summer. For black bears, the best time is during the day.
Unfortunately for the disgruntled tourist, Yellowstone National Park does not offer a 100 percent guarantee or your money back when it comes to bear sightings. Looks like the beautiful scenery will have to suffice.
