Miley Cyrus has enraged some of her fans after the singer posted photos of herself on social media sitting on a famed California Joshua tree.
The Wrecking Ball singer posted photos on both Instagram and Twitter on Tuesday. In one of the photos, the 26-year-old is pictured perched on a limb of one of the iconic desert trees.
“Looking down at all the petty drama like…” Cyrus captioned the Instagram photo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvwctdNhaFv/
“Monkey Bizzzzznassssss,” reads another.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvxTizSgg-7/
Cyrus faced backlash on Instagram, with many saying she wasn’t setting a good example. Cyrus later disabled the comments on the two photos, but not before screenshots were captured of the backlash.
“Way to set a terrible example,” reads a comment. “These trees are incredibly fragile, with a very shallow root system.”
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“Don’t do this. Joshua trees are dying out because of their fragility and folks climbing on them isn’t helping curb that,” reads another comment. “Delete this before more damage is done.”
Cyrus also shared an image on Twitter, where the pop star couldn’t turn off the backlash.
https://twitter.com/MileyCyrus/status/1113090572103741441
“Please don’t climb our Joshua trees (and then post it for people to imitate) they are protected and extremely delicate!” reads a comment. “Please respect our wildlife!”
A national park employee chimed in, asking Cyrus to remove the post.
“I work for the Joshua Tree National Park and you should not climb Joshua trees. Their limbs are very fragile and don’t regenerate,” William Hart said. “We have issues with visitors climbing and damaging our iconic trees. Please take this down so others don’t climb and damage them. Thanks.”
Joshua Tree National Park spokesman George Land expressed similar concern.
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“We would just remind her that she has a big following, people watch what she does, and it would be greatly appreciated by the Park Service and the people around the area if she would maybe curb that type of activity, especially posting it on her social media page,” he said.
Some of Cyrus’ fans didn’t seem to care the singer was sitting on the protected tree.
“UNBOTHERED QUEEN,” reads a comment.
“Drop the album from there girl!” reads another.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently reviewing the Joshua tree for listing under the Endangered Species Act.
As of Thursday, Cyrus has yet to respond to the criticism.
–with a file from the Associated Press
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