The Region - News from April 28, 1987

A 37-year-old Canoga Park antique dealer was ordered to donate $1,000 to the Los Angeles Zoo for preservation of endangered species for selling Indian jewelry made of bear claws. Michael S. Crisp said he purchased the claws on an Indian reservation in Arizona and got caught doing what many other traders do with impunity. “There is not a gun show, rock show or jewelry show in the world that doesn’t have bear claws done in jewelry,” Crisp said outside Van Nuys Municipal Court, where he pleaded no contest to one count of violating the state Fish and Game Code. “I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Although California law permits hunting of bears under very restricted conditions, the sale of any part of the animal is illegal, even if the bear was killed in another state. The law is designed to discourage poaching for profit. Commissioner Joseph Ruffner also sentenced Crisp to three years’ probation and ordered him to pay a $500 fine.