Various incidents of damage to NPs during shutdown coming to light
A coyote that got a taste for human food from garbage strewn about Death Valley National Park during the partial government shutdown had to be put down by rangers after it repeatedly stopped traffic, while other coyotes and and two bobcats were seen approaching visitors in the park. Human visitors left other waste behind: an estimated half-ton of human waste on the landscape.
"People tried to do the right thing by leaving trash next to full dumpsters, but wind and animals dispersed it. The park’s resources, visitors, and wildlife all paid the price," Death Valley Superintendent Mike Reynolds said Friday. "We think their behavior was changed by the food scraps they got from trash.”