National Park Service

Don't ‘Push a Slower Friend Down' If You See a Bear, National Park Service Says

That's 'even if you feel the friendship has run its course,' the park service continued

A brown bear.
Abbie Parr/Getty Images
A brown bear is seen at Katmai National Park on August 14, 2020 in King Salmon, Alaska.

With spring on the horizon, the National Park Service is getting the word out on bear safety – in peculiar fashion that is.

"If you come across a bear, never push a slower friend down…even if you feel the friendship has run its course," the park service's main Twitter account tweeted Tuesday.

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The tweet went viral, racking up 9 million views, over 24,000 retweets and more than 177,000 likes as of Friday.

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And the park service didn't stop there.

"If not friend, why friend shaped?" the park service continued in the tweet thread. "What about your other friend? Seeing a bear in the wild is a special treat for any visitor to a national park. While it is an exciting moment, it is important to remember that bears in national parks are wild and can be dangerous."

The park service closed out the thread with a link to an article about how to stay safe around bears.

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