Tell Cherokee to Close Cruel Bear Pits

From PETA

Please sign and send:
Tell Cherokee to Close Cruel Bear Pits

BACKGROUND
According to Cherokee legend, black bears are the keepers of dreams. When observing the lives of the bears who have been relegated to the concrete pits of roadside zoos in the Qualla Boundary area of western North Carolina, one has no doubt that all these imprisoned bears are dreaming of their own freedom.

Three roadside zoos— Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, and Santa’s Land—keep bears in grossly inhumane conditions, as detailed in PETA’s 63-page bear welfare report documenting serious problems found by a team of bear experts at these facilities. As though locked in a 1950s time warp, these Cherokee facilities display neurotic, hungry bears in desolate concrete pits or cramped cages in which the animals pace back and forth, walk in endless circles, cry and whimper, and beg tourists to toss them a morsel of food.

Highly intelligent animals capable of empathy and a wide range of feelings, bears are active for up to 18 hours per day in their natural habitat and spend their time exploring diverse terrain. In the wild, bears forage for a wide variety of foods and dig in soft earth, brush, and leaves—but the concrete pits that the Cherokee bears are forced to call home deprive them of everything that comes naturally to them. Surrounded by four solid walls, the bears cannot scan the horizon, gain a perspective on their surroundings, or make much use of their acute sense of smell.

Cherokee’s roadside zoos have made no effort to simulate the animals’ natural habitat or provide them with stimulation. They have also been cited repeatedly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for failing to meet minimal federal standards established in the Animal Welfare Act.

The cages lack any form of environmental enrichment, such as appropriate climbing structures, hidden food treats for foraging, barriers for privacy, and substrate for digging, resting, and nest-building.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Never patronize facilities that keep captive wildlife in cruel conditions.
• Contact Cherokee and USDA officials and urge them to close the bear pits and retire the bears to an accredited sanctuary.

MESSAGE TEXT

I was horrified to learn about the conditions for captive bears in Cherokee. There has been no attempt to provide these animals with a natural habitat or environmental enrichment to satisfy their intense curiosity.

When confined to barren enclosures without room to roam and with no opportunity to express natural behavior or make choices about their daily routines, bears quickly become stressed, frustrated, and bored. They often develop neurotic behavior. Captivity-induced neurotic behavior–such as pacing, circling, head-tossing, and begging–are common in the captive-bear exhibits in Cherokee.

Please close the bear pits and transfer these animals to a sanctuary.