National Park Service’s Peculiar Bear Safety Tweet

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.

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

If not friend, why friend shaped?

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.
— National Park Service (@NatlParkService) February 28, 2023

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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.