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A Colorado Park Had to Close Because Visitors Kept Taking Selfies with Wild Bears

It doesn't get much stupider than turning your back to a bear so you can snap a selfie on your iPhone's front camera.

Read: The Berenst(E)ain Bears Conspiracy Theory That Has Convinced the Internet There Are Parallel Universes

Colorado's Waterton Canyon park has been closed to visitors for over two weeks because of the presence of a couple of families of bears—but it's not the animals themselves that are causing problems, but the throngs of visitors who are trying to take with them.

"The current situation is not conducive for the safety of our visitors or the wellbeing of the wildlife," Brandon Ransom, Denver Water's manager of recreation, told ABC 7.

"We've actually seen people using selfie sticks," he said, adding some would get "within ten feet of wild bears."

Another spokesperson for the park described hikers trying to snap the perfect #bearselfie as making a "poor choice." That seems like a minor understatement, since bears are hulking, hairy predators that can completely decimate a puny human with a small swat of their paws. The US Forest Service has been warning against turning your back to a bear so you can snap a selfie on your iPhone's front camera since last year, but apparently people aren't listening.

This is just another addition to the endless list of reasons why selfie sticks are unholy creations.

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