It’s hot all over Montana, and the animals in Yellowstone National Park are doing what they can to beat the heat. According to Yellowstone National Park Public Information Officer Traci Weaver, animals can be found in the shadows of buildings all over the park, and even camped out in the shade of vehicles.

"There are a lot of elk hanging out right here in Mammoth, lying in the grass, in the shade, I even saw one up on the porch going into our Yellowstone Center for Resources building yesterday coming back from lunch," Weaver said. "There's been probably a herd of around 20 that are hanging out right here in Mammoth. You've got to think it's because its cooler,"

Weaver said thousands of people are expected to visit the park in the next few days and advises everyone to keep their distance from the wildlife. Right now, park officials are preparing for what could be a weekend attendance record.

"It's certainly possible that we would have a lot of visitors here this year," Weaver said. "The trend so far through the end of May, our visitation was up by 24 percent. June was very busy as well, but we haven't gotten the final numbers back in yet. It's very likely that it'll be a busy time in Yellowstone."

The all-time visitation record for Yellowstone occurred in 2010 with over 3.6 million visitors. Weaver said they are on pace to have over 2 million visitors by the end of July.

Photo Courtesy of Traci Weaver
Photo Courtesy of Traci Weaver
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Photo Courtesy of Traci Weaver
Photo Courtesy of Traci Weaver
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Photo Courtesy of Traci Weaver
Photo Courtesy of Traci Weaver
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