In response to increasing incidents of visitors approaching wildlife, Yellowstone National Park officials have begun a new deterrent program involving the placement of cardboard signs around the necks of American bison.

The initiative, launched earlier this week, aims to reduce unsafe proximity between tourists and the park’s largest mammals by altering the context of the encounter. Park rangers have tagged several bulls near the North Entrance with handwritten signs reading “HOMELESS PLEASE HELP.”

According to park administration, the strategy is not based on animal training but rather on human behavioral psychology. The theory posits that drivers are conditioned to avoid eye contact and roll up their windows when confronted with solicitation, a reflex officials hope will override the desire to take close-up photographs.

“We simply place the signage around the neck of the animal and release them back into the herd,” said Park Operations Director Mark Hollenbeck. “We have observed that when a bison approaches a vehicle wearing this signage, the driver’s instinct is no longer to interact, but to lock the doors and stare straight ahead until the animal moves on.”

The image above captures one of the initial test cases, where a motorist is seen maintaining a rigid, forward-facing posture while a tagged bison stands at the driver-side window. Early reports indicate that vehicles in the test zones are moving through bison jams more quickly, with significantly fewer stops for selfies.

Officials stated that if the pilot program yields a sustained drop in injuries, similar signage may be deployed on elk and moose populations in the coming months.