Wildlife Safety Distances: How Far Is Far Enough?
Every year, photographers are injured approaching wildlife too closely, and animals are disturbed, stressed or killed because people came too near. For large animals, distance is a matter of safety as well as ethics. This page gives the official minimums I could verify and some context for them. Rules differ by park, country and species, and local regulations always take precedence, so check them before you go.
Official minimums worth knowing
Yellowstone National Park requires you to stay at least 100 yards (91 m) from bears and wolves, and at least 25 yards (23 m) from all other wildlife, including bison, elk, deer, moose and coyotes. Other parks and agencies have their own rules, often similar but not always, so look up the one that applies.
In US waters, NOAA Fisheries asks boaters to stay at least 100 yards (91 m) from whales, and at least 50 yards (46 m) from dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions and sea turtles. Some species have stricter rules: 200 yards (183 m) from killer whales in Washington State's inland waters, and 500 yards (457 m) from North Atlantic right whales. Hauled-out seals and sea lions should be given at least 50 yards on land too, ideally from downwind, and taking selfies with them from close range is illegal. NOAA suggests a minimum altitude of 1,000 feet for viewing marine mammals from the air. It is still developing guidance for drones, but disturbing these animals can break federal law, so do not assume a drone is exempt.
For nesting bald eagles in the US, Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines recommend buffers of 330 to 660 feet (100 to 200 m) around active nests, and Florida's wildlife agency, for example, advises keeping drones at least 1,000 feet from a nest during nesting season. Many raptors, owls and seabirds are protected by law elsewhere too, and in some countries, disturbing certain species at the nest is an offence. Check before approaching any nest.
Treat the legal minimum as a floor
Bison have injured more visitors to Yellowstone than any other animal, and they can run at about 35 mph (56 km/h). At that speed a bison covers the 25-yard minimum in about 1.5 seconds. Bears can run at similar speeds, so a bear covers 100 yards in around seven seconds. Neither distance leaves you time to react, and the minimum is a legal limit, not a comfortable working distance. Cows with calves, and bulls during the rut, are especially unpredictable. Many guides suggest working well beyond the minimum, and the safest view of wildlife is often from a car.
What the lens has to do
Distance and image quality are not in conflict, but they do ask for long lenses. The sums are the same ones used for birds: focal length equals frame fraction times sensor height times distance divided by subject height. For an animal filling a quarter of the frame height (6 mm on a 24 mm sensor), on full frame, a rough guide is:
| Subject (approx. shoulder height) | Distance | Focal length for a quarter of the frame height |
|---|---|---|
| Bison (1.8 m) | 25 yards (23 m) | about 75 mm |
| Elk (1.5 m) | 25 yards (23 m) | about 90 mm |
| Seal or sea lion (1 m long) | 50 yards (46 m) | about 280 mm |
| Bear (1.1 m) | 100 yards (91 m) | about 500 mm |
| Wolf (0.8 m) | 100 yards (91 m) | about 700 mm |
So a 500 mm lens gives a usable bear portrait at the legal distance, and a wolf needs more reach or a crop. On APS-C divide the focal lengths by 1.5. For the full workings, see the bird lens calculator post.
Why distance matters to the animal
Disturbance has real effects. Animals flush from nests, abandon young, burn energy fleeing, and in busy places grow used to people in ways that get them killed. Eggs and chicks left exposed after a parent flushes can die from cold or heat within minutes. Every species has a flight initiation distance, the distance at which it flees, and it varies with the species, the individual, the place and the season. Stay outside it. A relaxed animal also makes a better photograph than a stressed one.
Signs you are too close
An animal that stops feeding and watches you, raises its head, puffs up, stops calling, starts to move away, makes alarm calls or warning displays, or moves between you and its young, is telling you to back off. Stop, do not advance, and back away slowly. Never follow an animal to close the distance, and if a bird leaves its nest because of you, leave and do not return that day.
Audio playback
Playing bird calls to draw birds closer is controversial and banned in many parks and protected areas. Never use it near a nest or repeatedly in the same place. Check the rules first, and the most defensible approach is to avoid it.
If you want to check how far away you were in a photo you have taken, measure the animal's known size in pixels and enter it in the calculator.
Related reading: Bird Photography: How to Calculate If Your Lens Is Enough, Macro Photography: Working Distance Explained.