[ad_1]
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. –A judge sentenced an Illinois woman to four days in jail for not walking away as a grizzly bear with two cubs approached dangerously and accused her of bluffing in Yellowstone National Park.
Samantha R. Dehring, 25, of Carol Stream, Ill., Pleaded guilty Wednesday to intentionally staying, approaching and photographing wildlife within 100 meters (91 meters).
In addition to sentencing Dehring to prison, US investigating magistrate Mark L. Carman in Mammoth Hot Springs banished her from Yellowstone for a year and fined her $ 1,000 and $ 1,000 to a wildlife protection fund.
Dehring’s attorney, Ethan Morris, did not immediately return a phone message Thursday asking for comment.
She encountered the bear on May 10 at Roaring Mountain, a hill with many loud steam vents called fumaroles.
As the grizzly approached much closer than the football field length limit for people to approach bears and wolves in Yellowstone, other visitors backed up and got into their cars. Dehring remained behind and continued to take photos, federal prosecutors said in a statement Thursday.
The grizzly finally charged with a bluff, running at Dehring but turning away without attacking him.
“Approaching a grizzly sow with cubs is absolutely insane,” Wyoming Interim US Attorney Bob Murray said in the statement. “Sheer luck is the reason Dehring is an accused and not a crippled tourist.”
Grizzly bears have killed eight people in the Yellowstone area since 2010, including Charles “Carl” Mock, a man from Montana maimed while fishing near the park in April.
[ad_2]
Source link