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Grand Canyon issues warning to public about ‘love locks’ amid concern

Home> News> US News

Published 17:07 15 Oct 2023 GMT+1

Grand Canyon issues warning to public about ‘love locks’ amid concern

The Grand Canyon has issued a warning over 'love locks' after an endangered species falls a victim to them.

Callum Jones

Callum Jones

The Grand Canyon is one of the most famous landmark on the entire globe, attracting millions of tourist every single year.

While it is supposed to be a fun experience visiting one of the world's best landmarks, it certainly isn't without its problems.

Taking to social media, the Grand Canyon has issued a warning to the public surrounding 'love locks' amid some concern.

Often, you'll find these padlocks hung from a metal fence bearing a couple's name or even initials.

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The key is then thrown into a nearby body of water, with many people believing the lock represents good luck for a relationship.

The throwing of the key is meant to symbolize an unbroken love, though the thoughtful gesture has caused some problems.

'Love locks' are causing some problems.
Facebook/Grand Canyon National Park

In fact, the locks are actually considered as 'littering' and 'graffiti' in the park, but it's the actual keys that seem to be causing much of the issues.

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The critically endangered California condor are known for being attracted to shiny things and as a result, have been known to eat the keys from the water.

This has led to many of these birds needing surgery to have the keys removed.

To prevent this problem from spiralling out of control, the official Grand Canyon Facebook page has issued a stern warning to visitors of the park.

They wrote: "Love is strong, but it is not as strong as our bolt cutters.

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"Padlocks left behind on fencing are called Love Locks. People think putting a lock on fencing at viewpoints is a great way to show love for another person. It's not. Leaving pad locks like this is littering and a form of graffiti. But because people will throw their padlock key into the canyon the scenario becomes worse and more dangerous specifically for a rare and endangered animal of the canyon.

X-ray of a condor who's ingested a key.
Facebook/Grand Canyon National Park

"Condors are curious animals and much like a small child will investigate strange things they come across with their mouths. Condors love shiny things. They will spot a coin, a wrapper, or a shiny piece of metal, like a key from a padlock that has been tossed into the canyon and eat it. Condors are not meant to digest metal and many times cannot pass these objects."

In the post, the Grand Canyon posted an X-ray image of one of the birds, where you can see coins lodged in the digestive tract.

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The post went on to warn that if a condor ingests too many objects like this, it could die.

Concluding the post, the page penned: "Padlocks and trash are not anomalies limited to Grand Canyon. Do your part to not contribute to these bad habits and inform others of what can happen to the wildlife if these behaviors continue."

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Grand Canyon National Park/RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Callum Jones
Callum Jones

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