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An Illinois woman who was captured on video getting dangerously close to a grizzly bear sow in Yellowstone National Park will serve four days in jail.
Samantha R. Dehring, 25, has also been banned …
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An Illinois woman who was captured on video getting dangerously close to a grizzly bear sow in Yellowstone National Park will serve four days in jail.
Samantha R. Dehring, 25, has also been banned from the park for a year and must pay $1,040 in fines and fees plus a $1,000 community service payment to the Yellowstone Forever Wildlife Protection Fund.
U.S. Magistrate Mark L. Carman in Mammoth Hot Springs handed down the sentence at an hour-long hearing on Wednesday — after Dehring pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of willfully remaining, approaching, and photographing wildlife within 100 yards. A second misdemeanor count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife was dismissed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming.
Dehring was at Yellowstone’s Roaring Mountain area on May 10 when a sow grizzly and her three cubs approached the parking area. Other visitors slowly backed away and got into their vehicles, the Park Service says, but Dehring continued taking pictures on her phone as the sow bluff-charged her.
According to Yellowstone National Park regulations, visitors must stay 25 yards away from most large animals and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves.
“If need be, turn around and go the other way to avoid interacting with a wild animal in close proximity,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
In a news release highlighting Dehring’s sentence, Acting United States Attorney Bob Murray noted that Yellowstone’s wildlife are wild.
“The park is not a zoo where animals can be viewed within the safety of a fenced enclosure. They roam freely in their natural habitat and when threatened will react accordingly,” Murray said. “Approaching a sow grizzly with cubs is absolutely foolish. Here, pure luck is why Dehring is a criminal defendant and not a mauled tourist.”
Dehring, a Chicago area resident who appeared by phone for Wednesday’s hearing, will apparently serve her jail time at a local facility. She’ll begin serving her sentence Friday, Oct. 15.
