Thrilling Footage Shows a Female Wolf’s Surprising Encounter With Tourists at Yellowstone

On the bumpy edge of a road snaking through the green valleys of Yellowstone National Park, a white van was parked. Huddled near the van were several tourists beholding the majestic sight of a wapiti wolf pack noshing on a dead elk. Some sightseers were snapping pictures of a flock of ravens that was feeding upon a deer carcass lying across the lake. Everything seemed as normal as it could be until the two tourists behind the van noticed a creepy creature emerging from the dense clump of bushes. The creature enraptured the viewers as footage of it was shared on Instagram by TouronsOfYellowstone (@touronsofyellowstone).

The footage opens with the two abovementioned tourists sitting behind the white van parked across the road. The backdrop is brimming with a pleasant soundscape of bird sounds, chattering people, and their movements. The park was peppered with sunlit smiles and shimmery camera flashes. Here and there on the grassy valleys were tripods perched to capture the wolves. The entire trail on the valley’s sides is pockmarked with parked vehicles.

Some tourists are sitting inside their cars while others are just wandering around, enjoying the drama unfolding on the lake. While most people have their eyes fixed on the lake, someone is secretly roaming towards them from the opposite side. It doesn’t take long enough for the cameraman to realize that it’s a wolf. “Are you kidding?” The videographer exclaims several times after spotting this wolf standing there, likely to cross the road. Suddenly, all the eyes pointed in her direction, fascinated and frightened at the same time. Meanwhile, the wapiti wolf doesn’t seem to pay any heed, as if the tourists were just furniture in the park.

While people all around snapped pictures, the wolf simply walked to the opposite side and disappeared in the thick grasses of the valley. When people think about wolves, they usually picture this wild, fiery-eyed creature gazing at the moon and yelling howls. Many believe that if a wolf bites them, they will turn into werewolves. According to Living With Wolves, this fear is usually overestimated. In reality, wolves tend to attack humans only in rare circumstances and are not as vicious as the rumors paint them to be. Besides, wolves are not like tigers or lions that display sudden bursts of force and speed when assassinating their prey.

However, like other wild animals, they don’t like to be intruded upon, in which case, you can’t expect them to stay static. In this episode, however, people were intelligent enough to respect her boundaries and didn’t try to interfere with the wolf’s street-crossing trip. “Everyone did their best to keep their distance, except for a few people like the ones in the video. The wolf was free to come and go as it wished, but decided to keep walking through people and cars multiple times,” the Instagrammer wrote in the post caption.

The footage left many people wondering why this wolf was sauntering alone when wolves are supposed to hunt in meandering packs. Others defended the wolf community in general, calling out the false beliefs and notions people carry about these wild beasts. “Well, at least that wolf proved to them that they don’t just go attack people. Wolf attacks on people are very rare because they normally try to avoid them,” commented @kimberlybellard_23.

Another viewer, @lokeymelanie, said, “It’s a beautiful thing to see a wolf there. We were lucky enough to see one.” And they are correct. According to Unofficial Networks, the wolf population in Yellowstone has been fluctuating between 83 and 123 since 2009. And while the Wapiti wolves at Yellowstone can be intimidating, if you are respectful enough to keep a good distance, you are pretty safe from their wrath.

You can follow TouronsOfYellowstone (@touronsofyellowstone) on Instagram to watch more animal videos from Yellowstone Park.

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