IN THE SPRING of 2019, Cheryl Feldstein was stuck in traffic along Highway 16, leading into Jasper National Park in Alberta. A male elk was standing at the side of the road. Cars pulled over, helter-skelter, while tourists clamoured to get an up-close photo with the beast. Too up-close, in many cases. This was a scene she’d witnessed before. As the former executive director for a wildlife rehabilitation facility, Feldstein has worked alongside community partners and the media to educate the public on the dangers of close-up photography—both for the animal and the human. It was discouraging to see that so many hadn’t received the message.
One of the worst parts, she says, is knowing that often the people taking these photos love wildlife as much as she does. “I am sure we would be hard-pressed to find a single person doing this who wants to hurt an animal,” says Feldstein.
The education that Feldstein and others are doing is important now more than ever. A survey conducted by the Nature Conservancy of Canada at the beginning of
