Reports from Yellowstone National Park indicate that rumors circulating on social media about an unusual migration of wildlife are not based on fact. These speculations, driven by videos posted on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, suggest that animals such as bison, elk, mountain lions, and grizzly bears are vacating the nation’s oldest national park en masse.
The National Park Service (NPS) has refuted these claims, asserting that the videos are AI-generated and intended to be satirical. Linda Veress, a spokesperson for the NPS, stated unequivocally that “wildlife is not leaving Yellowstone National Park in large numbers.” The background to this situation is important, and it involves understanding the natural rhythms of wildlife migration.
According to wildlife biologist Bill Hamilton, who has spent two decades studying Yellowstone’s ecosystem, wildlife migration within the park has its ebbs and flows, with the majority of movement occurring in winter. This is when animals leave the park in search of food that may be snow-covered within the park boundaries. Predators naturally follow, with mountain lions tracking deer, and wolves moving with the elk.
Summer migrations are rare, usually triggered by extreme events such as large wildfires. According to Tom Murphy, a wildlife photographer with 50 years of experience at Yellowstone, this year has been a “normal year,” with typical weather and moisture. He states, “There’s no reason for them to be leaving right now.”
Despite reliable sources debunking the rumors, some social media users have hypothesized that a pending eruption at Yellowstone’s supervolcano could be prompting the supposed migrations. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, however, maintain that the current alert level for volcanic activity at Yellowstone is “normal” or “Code Green.”
This development follows earlier reports that a video of a group of grizzly bears appearing to leave the park was proven to be a fabrication. It has been noted by experts that the behaviour depicted in the video is inconsistent with known facts about grizzly bear behaviour. Hamilton also dismissed the video featuring mountain lions as “nonsense,” explaining that these animals do not engage in migration.
While these rumors may seem harmless, the significance of this should not be overlooked. As Hamilton warned, such misinformation can undermine the public’s understanding of natural processes and cause unnecessary concern and confusion.
