Three drunken tourists who were caught on camera getting too close to feeding brown bears in the wild for a selfie have been handed prison sentences plus thousands of pounds in fines.
David Engelman, 56, from New Mexico, and Ronald J. Engelman, 54, and Steven Thomas, 30, both from Alaska, pleaded guilty to leaving the trail in Alaska’s Katmai Park to get closer to the feeding animals.
The tourists waded out into a salmon run to take selfies and were caught on the park webcam when viewers of the live stream alerted authorities.
Judge Matthew Scoble called their behaviour “drunken capering, and a slap in the face to those who were there”.
The incident actually took place in Autumn 2018, but the men have been identified now by the National Park Service Investigative Services, with help of the livestream footage.
All three men were fined $3000 each (£2400) and given a year probation, the money will go towards the Katmai Conservancy, a non-profit that looks after the running of the park.
David and Ronald Engelman were also sentenced to one week in prison, while Steven Thomas received a 10-day sentence.
In addition, each defendant is prohibited from entering any national park for one year.
“The conduct of these three individuals not only endangered other visitors and wildlife officers at Brooks Falls, they also potentially endangered the life of the bears,” lawyer S. Lane Tucker said.
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The lawyer added that if the stunt had resulted in injury or even death, the animals would have had to be destroyed and tourism in the area would also have been badly affected.
The men were later also identified on CCTV at a local bar, according to a National Park Service spokesperson.
“These individuals behaved carelessly and put themselves at great risk. Brown bears are fierce, territorial predators, especially when concentrated in order to feed on migrating salmon,” said Mark Sturm, superintendent of Katmai National Park and Preserve.
“Things could have easily ended very badly.”
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