Both early morning and
late afternoon/evening are the best time for seeing and
photographing wildlife. Please treat the landscape and its
inhabitants with respect; stay on established trails to avoid
trampling vegetation and always give wildlife plenty of space.
Important guidelines
for safe wildlife viewing/photography include:
View from a
distance - all wild animals experience stress when they feel
crowded by humans. This can be very dangerous as well as
stressful to the animals. Since the animals are “wild life”,
their behaviour is unpredictable and even more so when the
animal is a female with her young or a male that is defending
his territory during the mating season.
The following
distances are applicable in most instances. However, it is your
responsibility to watch for defensive warning signals and react
accordingly by pulling back or leaving the area entirely. In
general, stay back:
• 100 metres
from bears (unless you are inside a vehicle);
• 30 metres
from all other large species;
• 200 metres
from coyote, fox or wolf dens.
If you spot the
following defensive warning signals, pull back even more or
leave the area:
• Bears make a
'woofing' noise, growl and snap their jaws;
• Bull elk and
moose put their heads down and paw at the ground;
• Cow elk
flatten their ears, stare directly at you and raise their
rump hair.
If you cause
an animal to move, you are too close.
Additional
guidelines
• Do not
surround, crowd or follow an animal
• If you don’t
have a telephoto lens (at least 300-400 mm), show the animal
in its natural surroundings.
• Never put
people (especially children) at risk by posing them with
wildlife
• Do not stalk
or pursue wildlife
• Never follow
an animal into the bush
• Do not try
to entice wildlife by feeding or by simulating animal calls
(i.e. elk bugling)
