Did hundreds of bears block vehicle traffic into Yellowstone Park in March of 2025 by sitting, standing and lying down on the entry road, as was claimed on social media? No, that's not true: As of this writing, most Yellowstone Park roads were still closed for winter. The regional press that cover the park have not written about what would have been a historic event in park history, had it actually happened. An image provided as evidence was highly likely to have been a product of generative artificial intelligence.
The image and claim appeared in a March 24, 2025, post on Facebook (archived here) under the title "Bears Form Unprecedented Blockade at Yellowstone Entrance--Scientists Fear They Know Something We Don't". It opened:
Yellowstone National Park - Tourists hoping to take in the breathtaking landscapes and geothermal wonders of Yellowstone were met with an unexpected natural phenomenon Monday morning: an impenetrable wall of bears. /s, causing traffic delays, camper evacuations, and an existential crisis among park rangers.
"We've seen bears near the gates before, but never like this," said Yellowstone wildlife biologist Dr. Henry Clawson, watching nervously from a safe distance. "It's almost as if they're organizing. And that's... deeply unsettling."
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Mar 25 15:29:11 2025 UTC)
Yellowstone Park's roads would not, as of the date the spoof was posted, be cleared of snow for another three weeks at least, as the National Park Service announced on its website (archived here):
(Source: nationalparkservice.gov screenshot taken on Tue Mar 25 16:36 2025 UTC)
There would be no lush roadside grasses and deciduous trees such as those shown in the fake photo until all snow melted and temperatures rose above freezing.
Lead Stories submitted the image for testing by the HIVE Moderation ai-sensing system, which assessed the likelihood of it being a concoction of generative ai at 81%.
(Source: HiveModeration.com screenshot taken on Tue Mar 25 15:18 2025 UTC)
Lead Stories found no reports of an organized blockade of Yellowstone Park by bears on the websites of the major news organizations covering Yellowstone Park's four entrances: Wyofile, The Bozeman (Montana) Chronicle, The Idaho Falls Idaho Post Register, and The Jackson Hole News & Guide.
More Lead Stories fact checks about Yellowstone National Park can be read here.
