Tourists and wild animals – it has to be said that they’re not a marriage made in heaven, says Dixe Wills. Whatever have the latter done to deserve the former? It’s surely hard enough concentrating on keeping alive and producing the next generation without some humanoid coming along and behaving like a deranged half-wit.
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And why must these strangely attired bipeds always feel the need to get so close or, worse still, go about prodding, poking and grabbing? In Britain, the anthropoids exhibit an additional weird behaviour: the desire to give out food, even though this can often result in harming or killing the wild animals they claim to be love. ‘Look! There are some birds on a pond – let’s throw bread at them!’ Please just NO.
Here then are ten tales of holidaymakers who got it very badly wrong. The next time you go travelling and see some wildlife, don’t join the list and become that tourist.
10 unbelievably idiotic acts wildlife tourists actually did
Feeding snacks to a stag
In the animal world it often doesn’t pay to become a celebrity. That was certainly true for a fine stag who became well known for his forays into a Beinn Eighe car park in Torridon, Scotland.
Tourists travelling on the now over-popular NC500 route would stop at the car park to see ‘Callum’ as he was named. Quite a few of them would feed him titbits, reportedly including croissants, Rice Krispies and fruit.
Sadly, red deer and titbits don’t actually mix. Not only did Callum health problems because of his new diet, his teeth had rotted to such a degree that he found it difficult to forage during Torridon’s long winters. As a result, last year the National Trust for Scotland made the decision to have the ‘local legend’ put down. One can only hope that Callum did not die in vain and that other semi-tame red deer – such as those who famously hang out at the Kingshouse Hotel car park on the West Highland Way – do not suffer the same fate.
Picking up a baby wombat
Earlier this year, American influencer Sam Jones had the dubious honour of becoming the world’s most famous ‘idiot tourist’. The incident which won her this crown occurred in Australia when she picked up a baby (or joey) hairy-nosed wombat by the side of a road. She then posted the footage of her action to her many followers on instagram.
The clip shows the self-proclaimed ‘outdoor enthusiast and hunter’ carrying the animal towards a car, with the wombat’s mother in hot pursuit. The distressed joey shrieks and hisses and squirms about in a bid to free itself. Jones declares, ‘I caught a baby wombat,’ before eventually putting the creature down.
The video – since taken down – caused a furore around the world. Australian wildlife charities cited the distress caused to both mother and baby and the possibility of permanent damage having been done by the molesting the latter received. The influencer speedily left the country in the wake of an announcement by the Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke that the legality of her actions was being investigated.
Pestering a family of grizzly bears
Stories about foolhardy tourists in the Yellowstone National Park are ten a penny. The park, which mostly lies in Wyoming, is home to potentially dangerous animals such wolves, coyotes, lynx, cougars and bison, but this doesn’t appear to make visitors there question their behaviour.
For example, tourist Samantha Dehring sauntered right up to a grizzly bear mother and cubs in order to get a close-up of the family. It’s almost as if she didn’t have a zoom function on her camera.
Not taking kindly to this threat to her offspring (and perhaps mindful of preserving their worldwide image rights), the mother grizzly charged the paparazza, generously stopping just in front of her rather than knocking her into kingdom come. Dehring got the message and left.
Legal action followed. The culprit pleaded guilty to wilfully remaining, approaching and photographing wildlife within 100 yards. She spent four days in prison, and was fined, put on probation and banned from Yellowstone for 12 months.
Messing with Komodo Dragons
Anyone who’s ever seen picture of a Komodo dragon will know that they are not the sort of creatures to be taken lightly. The world’s largest lizard resembles a cross between a crocodile and a dinosaur (and not one of the herbivore ones either).
They can grow up to 3m long, can crunch up human bones as if they were celery sticks and possess highly toxic saliva. They have even been known to attack and kill people.
It makes the decision taken by Lon Lee Alle not to bother engaging a guide to show him around Indonesia’s Komodo National Park all the more baffling. The 50-year-old Singaporean tourist took himself off to watch some Komodo dragons eating some pigs and goats.
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Apparently, he couldn’t find the zoom function on his camera either because he approached one individual for a close-up. The creature decided that attack was the best form of defence and began to maul his leg. The hapless photographer was fortunate that other visitors rushed to his rescue. However, his leg was cut to ribbons and required extensive surgery.
Feeding carrots to ponies
Sadly, red deer aren’t the only wild creatures in Britain that are killed by unthinking tourists. In 2021, the New Forest Commoners Defence Association announced that one of the ponies that roam the Hampshire national park was found ‘choking on carrots’. They attempted to save the mare but her throat had been so badly damaged by the vegetables that they had to put her out of misery.
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In 2023, a ban on touching or feeding animals in the New Forest was introduced, with fines of up to £1000 for those caught doing so. It’s hoped that awareness of the prohibition will help prevent further unnecessary deaths.
The herd on the New Forest are descendants of ponies that have wandered freely over the heath and woodland area since the 11th century when local people were given rights of pasture.
Sleeping with crocodiles
‘I felt the crocodile basically came down on my foot with pretty much the force of a sledgehammer.’
These were the words Manfred Van Eckeren uttered to a reporter on Australia’s 7NEWS channel. The 65-year-old tourist was lucky to be able to say anything at all, since he had been attacked in his sleep by a creature that isn’t squeamish about what it does to its prey.
The saltwater crocodile presumably couldn’t believe its luck when it came across Van Eckeren, who had made the rash decision to bed down on Newell Beach near Port Douglas in Queensland, despite the fact that the area is known as ‘croc country’.
The holidaymaker only managed to escape when his reptilian assailant turns its attentions to his sleeping bag. Van Eckeren then took himself off to a hospital to receive treatment for puncture wounds in his foot.
Taunting a moose
While crocodiles can be very dangerous creatures to be around, there are many other wild animals whose ire it would be foolish to underestimate. Being hit by a charging moose, for example, is likely to be an unforgettable experience and perhaps not in a good way. They have a top speed of around 25 mph and can weigh up to 700kg.
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Two male tourists visiting the resort of Big Sky, Montana were thus playing with fire when they chose to provoke a moose standing by itself in the snow. A local named Jason Holfensperger filmed their actions and tried to warn them off, adding that they were ’the dumbest people I've ever met in my life’.
Undeterred, the pair drew ever closer until one of them prodded the moose a finger. This aroused the giant deer’s wrath, and it spun around and charged. Attempting to flee, one of the men slipped and fell over in the snow. Holfensperger urged the moose to ‘get him’ but the creature benevolently pulled out of its attack and the men escaped injury.
Passing around a dolphin
Should you ever harbour doubts as to whether Homo sapiens deserves to be wiped from the face of the planet, you need simply view a 2016 video filmed on a beach at the Santa Teresita resort in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The clip shows a small La Plata (also known as Franciscan) dolphin being pulled from the surf, its tail wagging weakly in protest. It is then passed around a crowd of thrilled holidaymakers all eager to be snapped holding the highly intelligent creature as it dies.
Images posted on the internet show that dolphin and another one being held aloft by various members of the crowd. At least one and possibly both of the dolphins were killed in the incident. The Argentine Wildlife Foundation was forced to issue a warning telling people not to treat dolphins this way and to return to the sea any found on the shore. Classed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, there are estimated to be as few as 30,000 La Plata dolphins left to pass around.
Cosying up to a camel
It’s always a good thing to remember that, although you may be keen to have a conversation with a wild animal, that enthusiasm may not be reciprocated. Last year, for instance, a tourist visiting Kuwait decided to have an intimate tête-à-tête with a female camel. The camel was unimpressed b this invasion of her personal space and made her feelings known by spitting in her would be interlocutor’s face. The woman pirouetted quickly away in revulsion but soon began laughing about the interaction. In reply to a query as to her welfare, she responded, ‘I got some camel spit right in my eye ball, so.…’
Camels react to stress or to feeling threatened by bringing up bile from their stomach and spitting it at their aggressor. Luckily for the tourist concerned, the this particular camel decided not to pursue the contretemps and ambled away.
Elephant close-ups
Despite being the planet’s largest land mammal, elephants can get spooked and when spooked, they will quite naturally defend themselves. This fact does not seem to deter a good many tourists who still insist on getting too close, often with a camera in hand. The fall-out can be unpleasant and sometimes fatal.
In 2020, three tourists who attempted to get that perfect wildlife shot near a forest at Hosur in Tamil Badu, India, had a very close shave indeed. The elephant they were photographing charged them. The men turn and fled. However, one of them slipped and fell and was very fortunate that the elephant made a split-second decision not to trample him into the dirt. Instead it let him off with a thwack around the head with its trunk. The elephant returned to the forest, perhaps debating with itself whether next time it shouldn’t be quite so magnanimous.
