Tourists plunge to their deaths in Peru while trying to take photos

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-selfie-is-now-deadlier-than-jaws-2015-09-22

The Great White shark used to be one of the most effective killing machines on the planet—or so we thought. Nowadays, the act of taking a selfie or getting the perfect shot while traveling is proving far deadlier.

The development of front-facing cameras on smartphones and growth in popularity of social media sites, such as Instagram, have created a culture that values risk-taking when seeking the perfect shot while traveling. In the hiking, traveling, backpacking and extreme sports worlds, that often means putting oneself in dangerous situations, such as slacklining between canyons, standing on cliff ledges, climbing trees, or pushing beyond boundaries.

Two travelers reportedly died in different instances in Peru recently while standing too close to the cliff ledge when posing for a photo. Last week, a 51-year-old man died when losing his balance at the edge of a cliff at Machu Picchu, in an area closed off to the public. He fell 130 feet. Prior to that, a South Korean tourist fell in northern Peru while taking a selfie at the Gocta waterfall, one of the tallest waterfalls in the world. He plunged more than 1,600 feet.

There have been dozens of deaths related to tourists taking selfies in recent years, according to Condé Nast research. Last year, Condé Nast Traveler pointed out that the selfie now claims more lives than shark attacks -- and that’s just the widely-reported cases involving tourism.

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There is now an entire Wikipedia page devoted to selfie-related injuries and deaths. The latter ranging from a 21-year-old Spanish man who was electrocuted in March 2014 after climbing on top of a train to take a selfie with friends, to a Japanese tourist who died last August by injuries sustained when falling down a staircase while taking a selfie at the Taj Mahal. In 2016, numerous people have died falling off cliffs or drowning while attempting to take photos.

Selfie photos taken too close to wildlife have become a danger as well, leading to the temporary shut down of Colorado's Waterton Canyon last August.

“We’ve actually seen people using selfie sticks to try and get as close to the bears as possible, sometimes within 10 feet of wild bears,” said Brandon Ransom, Denver Water’s manager of recreation, in a blog post.

In May of this year, a Chinese businessman was killed by a walrus at a wildlife park after posing too close to the animal for a selfie.