iStockphoto / Lois_McCleary
Elk are massive creatures. And they are wild animals through and through. Just because they look ‘cute’ to some tourists doesn’t mean that anyone should approach them closely under any circumstances.
Estes Park, Colorado is a town that’s teeming with wildlife. A few summers ago, a bear in Estes Park actually broke into someone’s car and completely demolished it.
There are also large elk throughout Estes Park, Colorado. They roam the city that sits at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park like they own the place and honestly, they kind of do, as you’ll see in this video below.
Video Of Tourists Getting Dangerously Close To Colorado Elk
This video shows tourists in Estes Park getting dangerously close to these Colorado elk. And this is a great example of why you should never get too close to wild animals:
It is astonishing how many people feel empowered to get within arm’s length of a wild Colorado elk. A fully-grown Rocky Mountain Colorado Bull elk can weigh between 660 and 780 pounds and the cows can grow between 500 and 600 pounds.
These are enormous animals and ones who know nothing other than survival. If they feel threatened their only instinct is to run or defend themselves. That’s it. And neither of those are good options if someone is standing in close proximity to these massive creatures.
For anyone who isn’t convinced yet to stay away from elk, read this. It’s a story about a man in Colorado who was gored by an elk on a golf course and had his kidney ‘ripped into pieces’.