The National Park Service is refuting viral claims that wildlife is fleeing Yellowstone National Park in large numbers, clarifying that videos circulating online are false and likely satirical or AI-generated.
Recently, videos have spread across social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, appearing to show herds of bison, elk, and even groups of grizzly bears and mountain lions leaving the nation’s oldest park. The posts caused the topic to become a trending search on Google.
“Wildlife is not leaving Yellowstone National Park in large numbers,” NPS spokesperson Linda Veress told ABC News. “This rumor is false.” Veress added that officials believe the circulating videos are likely fabricated.
Experts confirm that while animals do migrate, the scenes depicted online are not occurring. Yellowstone is home to hundreds of species that can roam freely without containment fences. According to Bill Hamilton, a wildlife biologist at Washington and Lee University who has researched Yellowstone for 20 years, most migration is seasonal.
In winter, animals like elk and bison move to lower elevations for better access to food, and their predators, such as wolves and mountain lions, follow them. Significant summer migrations are rare and typically only prompted by extreme events like a major wildfire.
Wildlife photographer Tom Murphy, who has worked in the park for 50 years, described current conditions as a “normal year,” noting there is no unusual reason for animals to be leaving now.
Some online speculation has linked the fabricated exodus to a pending eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. However, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which closely monitor the system, report its current volcanic alert level as “normal.”
Experts also highlight clear biological inaccuracies in the videos. Hamilton explained that grizzly bears are solitary and do not travel in large groups unless congregated at a major food source. Murphy called a video of migrating mountain lions “nonsense,” stating that the felines are highly territorial and do not migrate.
While the misinformation may be intended as entertainment, Hamilton expressed concern that it can harm public knowledge. “It does undermine the overall perception of understanding how things work, how nature works,” he said.
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