the first bugle rose out of the meadows — not triumphant, but strained. a bull elk stood rigid, his harem clustered behind him, their bodies angled toward escape that didn’t exist. 

every fall, herds of elk gather in and around estes park, colo., and rocky mountain national park for the rut. during this time, bull elk are highly active, vocal, and aggressive as they compete for dominance and attention from cows, or females, creating unpredictable and dangerous situations for visitors unaware of the risks.

on october 11, 2025, this particular herd was trapped between two narrow roads now jammed with rental cars, tour buses, and spectators scrambling for a front-row view. tourists climbed onto car roofs, cameras fired in bursts, and conversations carried across the valley as if the scene were a spectacle meant for the people in attendance. 

the tension in the air — both animal and human — was rising. on the opposite road, another bull bugled in growing agitation. as the crowd leaned in, he began to charge.

in one of the nation’s most iconic elk viewing landscapes, the collision between wildlife behavior, visitor expectations, and inconsistent education is becoming increasingly volatile.

chaos in the meadows

along the meadow’s edge, small signs read, “meadows closed from 5 p.m.–10 a.m.” few tourists noticed; many ignored them. 

with rangers absent due to the government shutdown, systemic issues became radiantly clearer than ever before: without enforcement, these rules were merely suggestions rather than boundaries.

“people don’t take our judgment as authority,” a bugle corp volunteer said. the bugle corp is a volunteer organization dedicated to monitoring elk during the rut, keeping visitors at a safe distance, and educating them on wildlife behavior. (the volunteer could not provide her name because she had to quickly move to another location where two bulls were sparring and visitors were approaching too closely.)

victoria jackson, administrator of the facebook group estes park resort guide, agreed. “even someone in uniform couldn’t convince them,” she said, describing an incident where a police officer struggled to move people off the golf course during an active rut scene. this trend illustrates how deeply the culture of ignoring boundaries has taken hold, making both enforcement and volunteer efforts far more difficult.

“i had a man walk into the meadow at 4:30 p.m. because the herd was there,” the volunteer said. “when i told him to leave, he said, ‘well, the sign says closed at 5 p.m., and it’s not 5 yet.’ just last week, i had a group of photographers within 50 feet of a bull, and i had to tell them to get back.” 

visitors sometimes interpret the instructional signs as permission to stay until exactly the stated hour, failing to recognize that the rule is part of a broader framework to prevent dangerous interactions.

inside the estes park visitor center, staffed by the national park service, the rocky mountain conservancy, and third-party tourism workers, elk safety was a minimal focus. a single sign in the bathroom stall offered safety rules, while a life-sized cardboard elk stood near the entrance for photos, without educational context. staff had no additional printed guidance for visitors.

when asked, employees often relied on personal rules of thumb. 

“if you walk up to them and they don’t change their behavior, you’re fine. but, if they look at you, then you’re too close,” one male staffer said at the estes park visitor center, describing his personal approach.

this advice contradicts official guidance. but according to danielle wolf, education manager at the rocky mountain conservancy, staff from different organizations use different approaches to visitor education.

“i’ve heard that rule too,” wolf said. “my team always tries to go with the more conservative approach: use the rule of thumb, stay back, give them space.”

the real “rule of thumb” is that when you make a thumbs-up and try to hide the animal with your thumb, if you can still see a part of the animal, you are too close.

a survey i conducted of 42 park visitors helped explain the disconnect between visitors’ behavior and official guidance. when asked what kind of information feels most valuable when learning about elk during the rut, 81% wanted both ethical or values-based messaging and clear instructional guidance. visitors want to understand why the rules exist, not just what they are.

when asked whether parks should provide more ethical education explaining the purpose behind regulations, 92.9% said yes.

why the rules fail

one reason people don’t follow the rules is that they don’t understand why they matter. and without meaning, rules invite people to look for loopholes. 

across rocky mountain national park meadows and around estes lake, a survey of 36 total signs found 52.8% purely instructional, and 44.4% unrelated to elk entirely.

we are so focused on giving information that we have stripped away meaning, and meaning is what people act on.

tourism websites amplify this challenge. searches for “best elk viewing in estes park” yield blogs and lodging pages directing visitors to high-conflict areas like downtown estes, the golf course, and moraine park. some suggest bringing a chair, blanket, and coffee to “enjoy the serene beauty of the fall landscape.”

these tourism resources rarely explain elk behavior, rut aggression, or ecological context, and seldom reference park rules. this fragmented, entertainment-first messaging reflects a deeper cultural issue: wild animals are seen as entertainment, land as a backdrop, and human presence is often assumed harmless.

in fact, human presence during stressful seasons such as the rut can affect elk both ecologically and biologically. close human activity increases stress, causing elk to expend energy on vigilance rather than feeding, preparing for winter, or mating successfully. as a result, human disturbance alters elk behavior with broader ecological and environmental consequences.

social media can escalate risk-taking behavior. when posting in groups like friends of rocky mountain park, my own attempts to raise safety concerns and invite discussion about elk viewing behavior was removed by moderators, who said that posts like these can “get ugly.” i was flagged for breaking rule #3, which restricts sharing locations and photos of unsafe behavior. 

meanwhile, moderators allowed posts that described risky actions using words like “entertainment” to remain, even though such language normalizes unsafe interactions with elk and downplays the potential danger. this moderation pattern highlights how online communities can inadvertently reinforce unsafe practices and ethical misunderstandings about human-wildlife interactions.

the problem isn’t just careless visitors, but a broader systemic, educational, and cultural gap in how humans learn to interact responsibly with wild animals.

bridging the gap between humans and elk

education and context can shift behavior. halle homel, a naturalist guide experienced in the high sierras and alaskan tongass, explained: “people love wildlife, and part of the reason they love it is that many don’t regularly experience it. but because wildlife is often new to people, there is a gap in how to behave around animals.”

homel said outdoor education is central to addressing this gap, explaining the “why” behind rules and practices to help visitors connect emotionally and intellectually with wildlife and ecosystems.

victoria also believes in stronger education: “more visible signage, volunteer wildlife ambassadors, and social media collaborations could help reinforce respectful viewing practices.” 

but restrictive measures are complicated. “we can’t control where the elk chooses to go,” she said. “it becomes nearly impossible to manage safely without shutting down access.”

aldo leopold, the “father of conservation” and creator of the land ethic, argued that no significant ethical change occurs without an internal shift in values. rules are not enough. signs are not enough. 

in estes park and rocky mountain national park, the gap between knowledge and care has become dangerous. it represents  a systemic ethical failure to remind visitors that humans, wildlife, and land are interconnected. homel cited the tlingit word gunalcheesh, meaning “i am not whole without you.”

“it might be our park, but it’s also their home,” she said.

while solutions will require creativity and coordination, small steps — clearer signage, volunteer ambassadors, and context-rich interpretation — can begin to shift behavior.

the respect the rut initiative is responding by developing context-rich signs and interpretive materials in high-conflict elk viewing areas. these resources help visitors understand safe practices, elk behavior, and the ethical reasoning behind park rules.

by linking instruction with meaning, the project bridges the gap between knowledge and behavior, taking a practical step toward fostering a more responsible and informed wildlife viewing culture.