Clifford Walters said he was only trying to save a struggling newborn bison when he made a sudden decision to push it up from a riverbank in Yellowstone National Park.
But Mr. Walters’s encounter with the animal on May 20 landed him in federal court, where he pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife, which is a misdemeanor.
Mr. Walters was ordered to pay a $500 fine, a $500 community service payment to the Yellowstone Forever Wildlife Protection Fund, a $30 special assessment and a $10 processing fee, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming said in a statement.
Mr. Walters, 78, represented himself in court and said in an interview on Friday that he believed the outcome was fair.
The charge he was facing carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Persons:
Clifford Walters, Walters’s, Walters, . Walters
Organizations:
Protection, Attorney’s, District of
Locations:
U.S, District of Wyoming