A woman is facing criminal charges after a close call with a bear. Photo / Yellowstone National Park / Instagram
A woman is facing criminal charges after a close call with a bear. Photo / Yellowstone National Park / Instagram
A tourist is facing criminal charges after footage of her close call with a bear was posted on social media.
The woman, from Illinois, US, was with a small group of tourists who spotted a female grizzly bear and her two cubs in Yellowstone National Park on May 15.
According to witnesses, she was bluff charged by the bear while taking photos of it at the Roaring Mountain area of the park, local news site The Billings Gazette reported.
While the rest of the group had retreated to their vehicles when the bears moved closer to them, the woman allegedly did not heed their warnings to get back until after she was charged at.
Footage taken by a witness shows the terrifying moment the bear ran towards the woman, with onlookers gasping in horror and saying "oh my god". The bear then turns away, and the woman turns and walks away too.
According to park regulations, all visitors must stay a minimum of 300 feet (91 metres) away from bears and wolves.
After footage of the encounter, taken by tourist Darcie Addington, circulated on social media, Yellowstone National Park took to Instagram to share an image of the woman, and asked for help to help identify her.
Commenters were furious at the close encounter, with one saying: "Then the bear pays the consequences of a human's stupid and thoughtless decision."
Another wrote: "I am so glad you are finally pressing charges. I see this too often and people simply do not understand the consequences of their actions. An Instagram photo is simply not worth it."
A third wrote: "And of course if she would have been hurt or killed it would have been the bear's fault and they would put the bear down!!! Stupid stupid people!!!! All for a picture, if you want an up close picture buy a camera that has a lens that gets you up close and personal!"
A woman is facing criminal charges after a close call with a bear. Photo / Yellowstone National Park / Instagram
Yellowstone ended up receiving a tip from their Instagram post, which led to investigators searching the suspect's social media posts.
She is facing charges of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife and violating closures and use limits.
The woman, who has not yet entered a plea, is due to appear in court on August 26.
There is an average of one bear attack at Yellowstone each year, and in 2011 and 2015 three people were killed by bears in separate incidents, leading the park to introduce distancing rules for visitor safety.
