It all started with a picture of NHL defenseman Clayton Stoner holding a severed head of a grizzly bear. That’s when animal rights activists went on the attack.
Turns out the bear is believed to be named Cheeky, a beloved tourist attraction in BC’s Great Bear Rainforest.
Stoner had a DNA test performed on the bear, which reportedly showed the bear he killed was 6-years-old rather than 18 claimed by Cheeky’s supporters, but the coalition of First Nation tribes still insisted it was Cheeky.
The end result is that Stoner recently plead guilty to the illegal killing of the bear in May 2013 and accepted a $10,000 fine in addition to not being allowed to hunt for the next three years.
At least $6,000 of the settlement would be used for habitat conservation, according to the CBC.
The dispute came down to whether could rightfully claim resident trophy hunting privileges, which requires the applicant live in the province for at least six months out of the year. But the Anaheim Ducks defenseman is known to travel for at least seven months of the year.
“If one hunts, then one must do so responsibility,” the judge said in his statement.
