Great Smoky Mountains National Park Announces How To Safely View Wildlife

The native wildlife that call the Great Smoky Mountains National Park home are a key part of the national forests’ delicate and diverse ecosystem. As a way to maintain the careful balance of the animals in the park, park rangers have recently released an article that describes in detail the important factors visitors need to keep in mind when viewing our favorite animals.

Stay Back

The key element in maintaining the wildlife inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is to make sure that they remain in the wild. To do this the animals require as little human interaction as possible. The way to achieve this is for guests to use handy tools like binoculars, telephoto lenses on their cameras, spotting scopes and more.

Don’t Feed

Similar to their request that guests stay back from the native animals in the park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials request that visitors refrain from feeding the animals. In their news release, park rangers site that guests who are approached by animals should back away slowly and put distance between themselves and the animal to allow it to pass.

Use Caution

Although they are pretty look at, and great to take pictures of, the animals inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are still considered wild creatures. Visitors to the park are urged to use extreme caution when they see an animal, and told not to try to provoke or ‘play’ with the animal. Along with families enjoying the great outdoors, park officials want to remind families that safety should be the number one priority when visiting the area.

Have more questions on how to properly interact with the animals in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? Visit My Smokies invites guests to check out our GSM National Park page. There visitors will find tons of information about the park’s native wildlife, fishing, hiking, camping, and more.