Chip Chick
Carol Stream, Illinois. 25-year-old Samantha R. Dehring took a trip from Carol Stream to Yellowstone National Park this May.
It was May 10th at around 4:45 in the afternoon when Samantha was at Roaring Mountain in Yellowstone National Park, and suddenly, a grizzly bear showed up in the area.
The bear, a female, had three cubs along with her and was walking through a parking lot.
Although other park visitors wisely backed away or got out of the area, Samantha, however, did no such thing.
Instead, she got up close and personal with the bear, who ended up charging at her. Samantha walked off after snapping some photos, but not before some parkgoers caught the whole ordeal on camera.
The footage was quickly posted to social media, where it went viral. When the National Park Service caught wind of what Samantha did, they shared their own social media post seeking information on who she was, since she was unidentified at that point in time.
It wasn’t long before Samantha was identified, and charges were officially brought against her just a few months after her bear run-in.
“Wildlife in Yellowstone National Park are, indeed, 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,” Bob Murray, Acting United States Attorney, said in a statement.
“Approaching a sow grizzly with cubs is absolutely foolish. Here, pure luck is why Dehring is a criminal defendant and not a mauled tourist.”
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