The town of Estes Park, Colorado, is a tourist hotspot year round. Home to stunning views, the iconic Stanley Hotel, and bordering Rocky Mountain National Park, you’ll find crowds of out-of-towners around throughout all four seasons. But in the fall, Estes Park brings in crowds for a different reason. The yearly elk mating season, or elk rut.
During this period, bull elk will battle each other for dominance, chasing away males or perceived threats as they fight for females. The usual aversion to humans that elk tend to display is set aside and tourists who get to close might find themselves in serious predicaments. The Estes Park dispatch center will receive near daily calls in relation to elk during this time, as people fail to follow safety guidelines like the tourists in the video below.
Obviously these people are far too close to these elk. Wild animals should never be approached and they should never be touched. In Rocky Mountain National Park, elk are required to be given at least 75 feet (25 yards) of space at all times, and harassing or feeding any animals is illegal in all national parks. In Estes Park, guidelines dictate that if an elk is changing its behavior because of a person, that person is too close. Read more on elk safety in Estes Park below:
Estes Park Police Department’s Safe Elk Viewing Tips:
- Elk are wild animals which must be observed from a safe distance to avoid injury or death. If an animal is carefully watching you and appears jumpy when you move, you are too close.
- Keep pets secured on a leash and do not allow them to bark at, lunge at, or chase wildlife.
- Never block traffic. Move your vehicle to a safe place completely off the roadway to watch elk.
- Do not imitate an elk call, or bugle, when elk are irritable during the rut. This can endanger you and the elk.
- Elk know no boundaries, but people do. Respect private property when viewing wildlife.
- The Estes Park Police Department does enforce wildlife laws including laws against feeding or harassing wildlife, or allowing one’s pet to harass wildlife.