Samantha Dehring: Woman Jailed for Yellowstone Bear Encounter

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Samantha Dehring was arrested for getting too close to a bear at Yellowstone.

Samantha Dehring is an Illinois lady who acquired a jail sentence for getting too close to a grizzly bear at Yellowstone Nationwide Park. The encounter was recorded and the video was shared on-line.

Proper right here’s what it’s best to know:

Dehring Continued to Take Photos After the Group Seen a Mother Bear & Her 3 Cubs

Dehring of Carol Stream, Illinois, visited Yellowstone Nationwide Park on Would possibly 10, 2021. She and the rest of her group observed a mother grizzly bear with three cubs whereas exploring Roaring Mountain, the Justice Department acknowledged.

According to park officials, the rest of the group slowly moved away from the bears and purchased into their vehicles. Dehring chosen to remain standing near the bears to take pictures.

The mother bear charged at Dehring nevertheless thankfully didn’t assault her, as the video of the encounter displays. Dehring then put her cellphone in her pocket and moved away.

Dehring Pleaded Accountable & Is Banned From Yellowstone for a Yr

Park rangers started investigating the incident in late Would possibly and requested most people for help determining the lady throughout the video. In accordance with the National Park Service, investigators charged Dehring on August 2.

She initially confronted two counts:

• Willfully remaining, approaching, and photographing wildlife inside 100 yards
• Feeding, touching, teasing, scary, or intentionally disturbing wildlife

Dehring appeared in courtroom in Mammoth Scorching Springs, Wyoming, on October 6. She pleaded accountable to the first rely. The second value was dismissed, in keeping with a news release from the Justice Division.

magistrate Select Mark L. Carman sentenced Dehring to 4 days behind bars and one 12 months of unsupervised probation. She was ordered to pay a $1,000 very good and an additional $1,000 to the Yellowstone Perpetually Wildlife Security Fund. Dehring was moreover banned from visiting Yellowstone Nationwide Park for one 12 months.

Prosecutors Say Dehring Was Lucky She Wasn’t Mauled

Getty File {photograph} of a grizzly bear at Yellowstone Nationwide Park in Wyoming.

Showing United States Authorized skilled Bob Murray said in a prepared statement that Dehring was lucky to be alive after failing to maneuver away from the bears. “Wildlife in Yellowstone Nationwide Park are, actually, wild. The park simply isn’t a zoo the place animals can be seen contained in the safety of a fenced enclosure. They roam freely of their pure habitat and when threatened will react accordingly,” Murray acknowledged. “Approaching a sow grizzly with cubs is completely foolish. Proper right here, pure luck is why Dehring is a authorized defendant and by no means a mauled vacationer.”

The Nationwide Park Service has a section of its website devoted to bear safety. Park rangers warn that every considered one of Yellowstone is a bear habitat. They instruct friends to stay not lower than 100 yards away from bears and to certainly not methodology them to take photos. People are warned certainly not to feed the bears. Rangers moreover say that if a bear approaches your vehicle, the most effective issue to do is to honk the horn and drive away.

Grizzly bears are notably dangerous within the occasion that they actually really feel their cubs may probably be in peril. The North American Bear Center says 70% of grizzly bear killings comprise a mother defending her cubs.

The AP experiences grizzly bears have killed 8 people at Yellowstone beforehand decade.

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