- The National Park Service said people shouldn't push their friends over when running from a bear.
- It said people shouldn't sacrifice their friends even if "the friendship has run its course."
Bears are coming out of hibernation, and the National Park Service has a warning for everyone: Don't sacrifice your friends to escape a bear.
In a tweet Tuesday, the National Park Service told people to "never push a slower friend down" to escape from a bear, "even if you feel the friendship has run its course."
"If not friend, why friend shaped?" the National Park Service tweeted. "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 thread sparked a slew of questions.
"What if you're the slower friend?" a Twitter user named Doug Jones wrote.
"Check in on the friendship before you head to the woods," the agency replied.
A Twitter user named Jeff Brown asked what to do "if the bear looks really hungry."
"Don't they deserve a lil snack as a treat?" Brown tweeted.
"Do you consider yourself the faster or slower of the two friends?" the National Park Service tweeted in response.
The agency also tweeted a link to its guide on what people should do if they spot a bear. This includes advice like "talking calmly" so the bear can identify you as a human and not provoking the animal.
"Do NOT run, but if the bear follows, stop and hold your ground. Bears can run as fast as a racehorse both uphill and down. Like dogs, they will chase fleeing animals," the National Park Service writes in its guide.
There are more than 900,000 black bears in the US, according to the National Park Service.
And more than 30,000 brown bears roam the US, according to Be Bear Aware, a nonprofit. As for grizzly bears, there are about 1,500 of them on the US mainland and 31,000 grizzlies in Alaska, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
Grizzly bears at Yellowstone National Park are expected to come out of hibernation between March and May.
To be sure, bear attacks are rare. The parks service says the chances of being hurt by a grizzly bear are "approximately 1 in 2.7 million." The parks service adds that a visitor to Yellowstone National Park has a higher chance of death by drowning or fatal burns from a hot spring than being killed by a bear.