26 Times People Saw Tourists Acting Like Complete Jerks And Publicly Shamed Them
One major rule every tourist should know is that no matter where you travel, you have to be respectful to the place you’re visiting. However, some tourists clearly didn’t receive the memo and decided that being a jerk is completely acceptable behavior.
Fed up with the disrespectful tourists, locals and more level-headed tourists began capturing their actions on camera and publicly shaming them online. From destroying nature to defacing mosques, check out the tourists who acted like jerks and got publicly shamed for it in the gallery below!
#1 Killed For A Selfie: Baby Dolphin Dies After Being Passed Around By Tourists As They Posed For Photos With It On A Spanish Beach
Image source: solarpix
Tourists in southern Spain found a lone baby dolphin wandering near the shore and instead of calling animal rescue, they decided it would be a smart idea to pass it around and take selfies with it. When the animal workers finally arrived 15 minutes later, the baby dolphin had already died from stress. “Cetaceans are very susceptible to stress, and crowding round it to take photos and to touch it causes them a big shock which greatly accelerates cardio-respiratory failure, which is what happened,” said a representative of Equinac, a local marine wildlife protection group, in an interview with Daily Mail.
#2 Tourists Destroying Popular Oregon Rock Formation
Image source: lauralawsonvisconti
A few years back, the unique sandstone formation, nicknamed “duckbill”, was knocked over by vandals on purpose as a form of revenge after their friend had broken their leg because of the rock.
#3 Tourists Chase Peacocks, Rip Out Their Tail Feathers At Beijing Zoo
Image source: yunnan.cn
Some visitors of a Beijing wildlife park started chasing and plucking feathers from the peacocks’ tails. Even though other tourists tried stopping them, the offenders did not stop until the last peacock was scared away.
#4 Schoolboy, 15, Exposed As Egypt’s Ancient Temple Graffiti Vandal
Image source: weibo
Ding Jinhao, a 15-year-old from China, scratched “Ding Jinhao was here” into 3,500-year-old Egyptian artwork located at the Temple of Luxor. People on the internet quickly uncovered the culprit and his parents had to publicly apologize for what their child had done.
#5 Tourists Break Into Eco Park And Strip Away All Its Lotus Flowers
Image source: asiaone
Chinese tourists have broken into and stolen lotus flowers from the Longqiao Cultural and Ecological Park located in Sichuan, China on multiple occasions.
#6 Mob Of Tourists At Costa Rica’s Ostional Beach Prevents Sea Turtles From Nesting
Image source: sitraminaecr
Every year the olive ridley sea turtles come out of the sea to nest in the Ostional Wildlife Refuge, located in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. However, it became a popular tourist attraction with many people coming over to take pictures with the turtles. Sadly, the tourists scared away many of the turtles, meaning some of them did not get to lay eggs.
#7 Bison Calf Euthanized After Yellowstone Tourists Put It In Their Car To ‘Keep It Warm’
What started as a good deed actually ended tragically for this baby bison. A couple of tourists found it near a road in Yellowstone National Park and put it in their car to warm it up. Sadly, this meant that the bison was separated from the others and there was no way of telling which one of the adult bison was its mother. Eventually, the baby bison had to be euthanized since it started creating dangerous situations by approaching people and cars on the road.
#8 Tourist Knocked Down The Saint Michael Statue While Trying To Take A Selfie (Lisbon, Portugal)
Image source: MIR
When trying to take a selfie with the statue of Saint Michael located at the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon, a visitor ended up knocking it over and shattering it irreparably.
#9 Yellowstone Hot Spring Turning Green Because Of Tourists Throwing In “Good Luck” Coins
Image source: onza04
People were throwing so much “good luck” coins and rocks into the Morning Glory hot spring, it clogged up the pool’s vents, slowing down water circulation and allowing bacteria to proliferate, thus causing the unusual green coloring.
#10 Man Climbed Onto The Pedestal The Statue Sits Upon, Attempted To Take A Selfie And Knocked The Statue Over
Image source: Ewan Munro
A tourist tried to take a selfie with the 130-year-old Dom Sebastiao statue in Lisbon, Portugal and ended up knocking it over. The culprit was arrested after attempting to run away.
#11 Tourists Destroy Beautiful Azalea Trees In Bloom In China: Some Even Use Branches For Barbecue
Image source: stomp.straitstimes
Every year the blooming azalea trees attract hundreds of tourists to the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in China. Sadly, not everyone is respectful to its beautiful nature. Some tourists break off branches of the trees and others even used them to start a barbecue.
#12 Tourists’ Selfie Mania Destroys Rare Pink Grass
Image source: Hzdaily
According to South China Morning Post, a field of beautiful pink grass flowers had to be cut down after selfie-taking tourists trampled it, despite the field being blocked by multiple rope barriers.
#13 The Beach Near My House After The Tourists Left
Image source: Regangibson212
Hundreds of plastic plates and bags litter the Margate beach in United Kingdom after the tourists had left. “We love to see people enjoying our beautiful sandy beaches but the mess that was left on Saturday was shocking and heartbreaking to see,” says council leader Bob Bayford.
#14 Jerk Tourists Chase Endangered Tibetan Antelopes For Photos, Get Fined
Image source: Weibo
Two white SUVs had illegally trespassed into the Selincuo National Nature Reserve and started chasing a herd of Tibetan antelopes. Someone captured footage of it and posted in Weibo, causing a major uproar. This eventually led to the arrest of seven people who were each fined 15,000 yuan (2,257 US dollars).
#15 Tourists Destroy Natural Wonder By Carving ‘Send Nudes’ Into It
Image source: Bakland Ferðaþjónustunnar
The words “send nudes” were carved onto the side of a moss-covered hill located in South Iceland. It will take years for the moss to regrow and, sadly, this is not the first time someone has done a similar thing as evident by multiple other words carved into the side of the hill.
#16 People Allegedly Destroying Stone Pillars At Hampi
Image source: Kandukuru Nagarjun
A group of vandals was caught on video destroying the pillars of the Vishnu temple in Hampi, India. They were arrested a week after the video surfaced and all four admitted to their crime. “They were excited [about] seeing the monuments in Hampi,” said Arun Rangarajan. “They claim to have toppled the pillar in sheer excitement. They had no idea how historically significant Hampi is.”
#17 Russian Tourist Fined $24,000 For Colosseum Graffiti
Image source: Courtesy Superintendence of the Archeological sites of Rome
A 42-year-old Russian tourist had carved a large “K” into the side of the Colosseum in Rome and was caught by one of the guards. According to CNN, the man received a 20,000 euro ($24,800) fine.
#18 Tourist Spotted Burying Used Diaper In The Sand On Boracay Beach
Image source: MPBL Recap
A while ago, someone had caught a video of a woman burying a soiled diaper in one of the beaches in the Philippines. This made the local authorities close the area and perform water quality tests.
#19 Tourists Destroy Priceless Italian Monument While Trying To Take A Selfie
Image source: Николай Максимович
The “Two Hercules” statue is one of the main attractions of the city of Cremona, Italy. So imagine the locals’ disappointment when two tourists broke off a part of their beloved statue when trying to take a selfie. Sadly, the culprits are yet to be located.
#20 2,000-Year-Old Megalithic Tomb In Spain Vandalized With Harry Potter References
Image source: ancient-origins
Someone decided to spray paint the ‘Deathly Hallows’ symbol on the La Casa dos Mouros dolmen, a protected site located in Vigo, Galicia. “Maybe JK Rowling dropped by to promote her latest spin-off,” joked Mayor Oscar Dominguez. “Either way, it is clear that the graffiti was carried out by an amateur in the world of magic.”
#21 Photos Taken By Bali Dive School Shows Coral Defaced With Writing Etched In
Image source: OK Divers
A while ago, diving center OK Divers posted pictures of defaced corals and the photos quickly went viral. “Like many of you, we believe that their dive guide should have known better than to let them do this,” said OK Divers. “Nonetheless, the diver has come forward, they are truly sorry. Even though it won’t help the coral, we appreciate their honesty and believe they have learned a lesson they will never forget … [we ask you to] think of what we all can do to prevent such things from happening and how we can protect the precious underwater world.”
#22 Tourists Damage Ancient Landform Where Dinosaurs Roamed
Image source: Weibo
A 200,000-year-old land formation located in a geopark in Zhangye, central China, was damaged by a group of Chinese tourists after they decided to walk on the striped sand. The culprits even uploaded a video of themselves performing the act. This led to the local authorities launching an investigation and experts were called in to determine the damage caused.
#23 Indonesian Tourists Vandalize Olmec Monumental Sculptures In Tabasco
Image source: alexandersr
Two Indonesian tourists damaged 15 stone sculptures dating back to 1,000 BC located in the La Venta Museum and Park in Tabasco, Mexico, by spraying liquid oil on them. Why they carried oil on them is a whole different story.
#24 Japanese Bamboo Forest ‘Cries’ After Tourists Vandalize Trees
Image source: Casey Yee
Careless tourists started carving their initials into the bamboo trees located in a Kyoto bamboo forest, leading to the trees “crying” and eventually having to be cut down.
#25 Tourists Allegedly Vandalize A Mosque In South Of Morocco
Image source: moroccoworldnews
Tourists vacationing in the Boutbouqalt resort left offensive insults on the side of a local mosque, leading to the police opening an investigation, according to news site Tiznit37.
#26 Tourists Doing Stupid Things At Yellowstone National Park
Image source: jakashh
Got wisdom to pour?