YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Social media sites are claiming that animals are fleeing Yellowstone National Park in large numbers. One of many video clips making the rounds, suggests a big volcanic event is about to happen in the park and that animals are aware of it.
In one clip a poster said, “Grizzle bears are not known to travel in herds like this all at once and great distances, and they are headed towards Salt Lake City, Utah." Yes, the poster does refer to grizzly bears as, “grizzle bears.”
WATCH: Are animals really fleeing Yellowstone? Here's the truth
I visited the north entrance to Yellowstone Park near the historic arch. It’s within sight of a flat area where animals frequently gather and migrate through. But right now, no animals are there. And, at a natural bottleneck east of Mammoth, there is also no activity. Even on the opposite side of the more than 2.2-million-acre park, there's no animal activity at the northeast entrance, near Cooke City. In fact, the only thing coming and going at that entrance, are people.
Yellowstone spokesperson Linda Veress said in an email to MTN news, “This rumor is false, and we believe the video that is circulating on social media is satirical in nature.” In fact, it is ridiculous. Animals never seen in Yellowstone, like caribou from the arctic and even some only seen on the African plains, are featured. In one, a poster said he checked on the animal behavior with his brother-in-law who sells fish at a pet store.
Another clip said, “Yellowstone National Park are super concerned. They think that the bison might leave next, so they've hired a Dr. Rheemie Deemie to come in and investigate.” Rheemie can supposedly read the minds of animals.
The clips are intercut with some actual footage of animals seen in the park but the suggestion that the Yellowstone super volcano is about to erupt is also wildly off base.
Dr. Mike Poland, the Chief Scientist for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory said, “There's no obvious buildup in seismic activity, and in fact, it's sort of been kind of lower than we've seen in for many years.”
Reports early this year that ground was rising south of the Norris Geyser basin may have helped trigger this latest hoax, but even that turns out to be a bust.
Poland said, “That rising actually stopped in mid-January. It's pretty interesting that it was sort of going pretty steadily. It started in July of last year, and then it just, you know, one day just stops.”
Snopes, the famous internet fact checking service doesn’t hesitate. It rates the claims as blatantly false.
