Red Fleet State Park in Utah is home to an incredible selection of dinosaur tracks form in the sandstone millions of geezerhood ago but recently , visitors have been ripping them out of the ground and chucking them into a nearby lake .
Why ? No one ’s quite certain but the vandals probably are n’t aware of what it is they are destroy .
“ Some of the tracks are very distinct to the layman , ” Josh Hansen , Red Fleet State Park ’s Manager , say in astatement . ” But just as many are not . That is why it is authoritative to not disturb any rocks at the dinosaur trackway . ”
allot to Devan Chavez , a spokesperson from the Utah Division of State Parks , at least 10 large slabs with visible footprints ranging from 8 to 43 centimeters ( 3 to 17 inches ) have pass missing in the last six month – and that ’s just a buttoned-down estimate , reports theAssociated Press ( AP ) .
“ It ’s become quite a big trouble , ” Chavez recite theAP . “ They ’re just looking to throw rocks off the side . What they do n’t realize is these rocks they ’re pluck up , they ’re covered in dinosaur track . ”
Hansen catch one adolescent as he was about to hurl a lump of stone with two toe imprints into the Red Fleet Reservoir .
“ I saved that one , ” Hansen state theSalt Lake Tribune . " He had already thrown multiple [ tracks in the water supply ] . ”
These depression are n’t technically fossils , even if they are treated like them under the Utah code . Instead , they are the remnants of dinosaur tracks get out in an surroundings that was once a clay - and - moss - filled bog but is now just desert .
fossilist think they came fromDilophosaurus , a 6 - metre - longsighted ( 20 - fundament - long ) , threefold - crested raptor that endure in North America during the Early Jurassic Period 190 million class ago and is likely best known today for its role inJurassic Park . Experts believe the predatory animal rest in waiting for other dinosaur so they could attack when their fair game was perch .
The squad says it plans to crack down on this destructive behaviour and while no felonies have been charged as of yet , it ’s something they may consider in future tense .
The principal affair they need to focus on is educational activity : The park is erecting additional mansion requesting that multitude do not touch the sandstone and asking everyone to help spread the word of honor .
As for the slabs already AWOL , the park is planning to send out a diving squad into the water to retrieve any fabrication on the lakebed , though " some of them are likely suffer forever",admittedChavez .
