Oops! Yellowstone Park restaurant busted with illegal bear meat
It's pretty common for restaurants next to parks to offer food that's somehow related to the attractions most people came to see. But this might be a little too on the nose: Agents with Montana's Fish, Wildlife, and Parks found a slew of game birds, about a dozen types of wild fish, and "the gallbladders and meat" of two black bears when they raided the premises of a restaurant right next to Yellowstone National Park. According to reports, Red Lotus owner Herman Chan plead no-contest to charges of "illegally purchasing fish and wildlife parts that were then stored inside the restaurant."
Chan says he didn't serve the meat to customers; instead he had an arrangement wherein he gave it to park tour guides and restaurant employees. He told investigators he thought he was in the clear because he wasn't selling the meat, but that's not really how it works. He reportedly also didn't see how buying meat of bears and other animals hunted in America's most famous national park might be seen as not only just illegal, but also just sort of mean. That's Yogi and Boo-Boo! He'll pay a $1,500 fine and will have his hunting and fishing privileges revoked for the next six years.
