Cub strolls Grand Teton with mask in its mouth, video shows. ‘Not hard to do better’

A bear cub found a new thing to play with in Grand Teton National Park: a coronavirus face mask.

The cub wandered the Wyoming national park with the mask in its mouth, a video posted by photographer Jonathan Kuiper shows. It was chewing on the mask.

“Folks, please don’t leave your disposable masks (or any other trash) behind,” Kuiper wrote on June 9. “It’s not hard to do better than this.”

Tourists and employees at all national parks are required to wear face masks, regardless of vaccination status. The mask mandate came back as the delta variant drives COVID-19 cases across the U.S.

At some national parks, rangers have found masks littered across the park.

“In recent months, there has been a new item being found throughout our National Parks. Masks,” rangers said at one national park.

Park officials at Yellowstone found masks in geysers and other natural features. Visitors are also leaving masks around Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.

While it’s not known if bears have tested positive for COVID-19, several other animals have.

In Ohio, wild white-tailed deer had SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nearly 30 big cats and three gorillas have also tested positive for the virus, the American Veterinary Medical Association reported. Hundreds of mink have also had COVID-19, and nearly 115 cats and dogs have had the virus.

The virus can spread from people infected with COVID-19 to animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We are still learning about this virus, but we know that it can spread from people to susceptible animal species in some situations, especially after close contact with a person with COVID-19,” the CDC said. “For this reason, the virus may threaten the health and welfare of wildlife and could negatively impact conservation efforts.”