Wyoming Bear Cub Seen Playing With Discarded Mask And People Are Mad

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As a child, I remember seeing multiple commercials as part of a massive campaign to educate people about how trash negatively impacts wildlife.

I remember learning that we had to cut all of the plastic rings around a 6 pack of soda so we didn't kill turtles and ducks...and dolphins etc.

Now as an adult it's just part of who I am to not only clean up after myself and my family but to pick up any other lingering trash in the area.

I've taught my kids the same thing, and because we live in Wyoming when opening up your car on a windy day can be disastrous...well let's just say we've developed some quick reflexes to grab the flying papers and empty water bottles.

This leads me to a recent video of a Bear Cub in Wyoming's Teton National Park playing with a paper mask.

It's impossible to know exactly how or where the cub found this face mask.

Did it blow out of someone's car?

Was it casually dropped by an inconsiderate tourist?

This mask is obviously a danger to this cub.

Like any litter that is eaten by a wild animal, it can cause intestinal distress and discomfort, and in extreme cases even death.

I took some time to scroll through the comments on the video post I found on Twitter and it seems that the topic of picking up your trash is one thing we can all agree on.

@supersuop: This is terrible. You’d think we had learnt a lesson on our environment by now.

@hezza7 Face masks have become the new trash overload. See them everywhere!

@projectthinkin Please leave pristine natural areas just as pristine as you found them. Remember, we're the guests in their home.

The original video seems to be from Jon Kuiper on Instagram and you can find more enraged comments their too.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jon Kuiper (@jwkimages)

I'm not sure how we can solve this problem, but I'm willing to bet that this is the first of many videos we will see like this.