Wild Animals Show Many Different Reactions to People in U.S. National Parks

A new study reveals that the presence of people and human-made structures in U.S. national parks has long-lasting effects on how large animals behave.

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About this article

This article was first published online on February 27, 2026, as part of the Picturing the Unseen series.

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A) Locations of all National Park Service sites (NP = park, NRA = National Recreation Area, NPRES = National Preserve) included in the study of animal movement in response to human footprint and park closure. B) An example of a human footprint index for the built environment in the Grand Canyon National Park study area. See Fig. 2, Gaynor and others, for details.

Gaynor and others. 2025. The influence of human presence and footprint on animal space use in U.S. national parks. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 292(2051): 1013.

Wild animals generally try to stay away from places with a lot of people. Kaitlyn Gaynor, a zoology professor at the University of British Columbia, said this is true even in more remote, protected areas. But animal behavior varies by species, population, and even the individual animal. That’s according to a recent study described by Gaynor and others in the July 2025 issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Gaynor and her colleagues used GPS collars to track 229 animals from 10 different species in 14 national parks and protected areas from 2019 to 2020. They studied how animals moved around the parks before and during the COVID “anthropause,” when far fewer people were visiting. They tracked gray wolves, mountain lions, black and grizzly bears, moose, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep.

The study authors found that in more developed parks, animals that avoided human areas in 2019 started using them when the parks were closed in 2020. Some animals stuck around even after the parks opened. In Yosemite, for example, when visitors returned, black bears stayed in developed areas because of the easy access to food. But in most parks, animals continued to avoid human structures during the lockdown. The scientists think the closures may not have lasted long enough for them to change their behavior.

“This study shows not just how animals respond to people,” said co-author Forest Hayes of Colorado State University, “but why different species react in different ways. Animals are trying to balance the risks and benefits of being near humans.”

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Cite this article

National Park Service. 2026. “Wild Animals Show Many Different Reactions to People in U.S. National Parks.” First published online on February 27, 2026. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/psv40n1rr_wild-animals-show-many-different-reactions-to-people-in-u-s-national-parks.htm

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