An Oregon man was arrested in Glacier National Park for taunting a bison in Yellowstone earlier in the week/Lindsey Jones video
A man who taunted a bison in Yellowstone National Park, beating his chest and waving his arms at the animal, was arrested in Glacier National Park for harassing wildlife.
Glacier rangers arrested Raymond Reinke, age 55, from Pendleton, Oregon shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday, the two parks announced Friday. He was wanted after a video showing him approaching the bison on a Yellowstone park road went viral.
“We appreciate the collaboration of our fellow rangers in Glacier and Grand Teton national parks on this arrest. Harassing wildlife is illegal in any national park," said Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk on Friday.
According to park officials, Reinke had been traveling to multiple national parks over the last week. On July 28, he was first arrested by law enforcement rangers at Grand Teton National Park for a drunk and disorderly conduct incident, Yellowstone officials said, adding that he spent the night in the Teton County Jail, and was then released on bond.
Following his release, he traveled to Yellowstone National Park, where rangers stopped his vehicle for a traffic violation on July 31. Reinke appeared to be intoxicated and argumentative, they said. He was cited as a passenger for failure to wear a seat belt. It is believed that after that traffic stop, Reinke encountered the bison, the park release said.
Yellowstone rangers received several wildlife harassment reports from concerned visitors and found Reinke later that evening, issuing a citation requiring a court appearance. The video of the event surfaced after that citation had been issued.
On Thursday, August 2, Yellowstone rangers connected Reinke’s extensive history, and seeing the egregious nature of the wildlife violation, the Assistant U.S. Attorney requested his bond be revoked. The request was granted and on the night of August 2, a warrant was issued for Reinke’s arrest.
Reinke had told rangers that his plans were to travel to Glacier National Park, where rangers began looking for his vehicle. Simultaneous with that search, rangers responded to the Many Glacier Hotel because two guests were arguing and creating a disturbance in the hotel dining room. Rangers identified one of the individuals involved as Reinke.
Glacier rangers transported Reinke to Helena late Thursday, where they met Yellowstone rangers. Yellowstone rangers transported Reinke to Mammoth Hot Springs and booked him into the Yellowstone Jail. He was scheduled for a court appearance Friday.
Comments
I completely agree.
Sounds like he'll need to do a 9th Step to a bison at some point...
It sounds to me like this man has a serious substance abuse illness and needs inpatient help.
It would appear that the bison had a lot more sense than the man, what an idiot, he should be banned from national parks, and given a whole lot of community service, it might school him it what it means to be a citizen.
i am glad someone didn't take it upon themselves to confront him; get the video, record the liscence number then call the pros.
Our parks and wildlife are too valuable for this type of behavior to go unpunished. Thanks to all the Rangers and others who worked to apprehend this guy. He should be banned from all our National Parks and heavily fined, a little jail time might help too.
Park Rangers did a great job.