Remember this guy?
In late July, news outlets picked up a video of Raymond Reinke harassing a bison in Yellowstone National Park.
As Gizmodo has stated before: Playing with bison at Yellowstone is idiotic. These majestic beasts are a lot faster than they look, and their hump is a mound of muscle that enables them to plow through the snow—or idiot humans.
After the video of Reinke doing the very dumb thing went viral, law enforcement rangers arrested him at Glacier National Park on August 2. While Reinke was at Glacier, rangers were reportedly called on a separate occasion to help with a disturbance involving Reinke at a hotel inside the park. As it turns out, Reinke had also been arrested just five days earlier at Grand Teton National Park for drunk and disorderly conduct.
ABC Fox Montana reports that Reinke has been sentenced to 130 days in jail—ten days for disorderly conduct, 60 days for interfering with law enforcement, and 60 days for harassing wildlife.
Reinke was also ordered to abstain from alcohol during a five-year probation period and to attend addiction treatment, which Reinke reportedly said he was already planning on doing. During the probation period, Reinke is banned from Glacier, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone.
He reportedly first pleaded not guilty and then changed his plea, leading the judge to drop one of his five charges.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman reportedly clarified that the video did not influence his sentencing decision. According to ABC Fox Montana, Carman told Reinke: “You chased and hounded the bison. You’re lucky the bison didn’t take care of it, and you’re standing in front of me.”
Reinke apologised to the animal that gracefully did not rip out his intestines with one of its mighty keratin spikes. “I’m sorry to the buffalo,” Reinke said, according to ABC Fox Montana. “He didn’t deserve what I did to him. I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to hurt that buffalo.”