Revoke Bear Park's License to Exhibit Bears

Chief Saunooke Bear Park has multiple animal exhibits,- a roadside collection of bear pits in Cherokee, North Carolina. The bear are denied food and visitors are encouraged to hand feed the bears.

Last year, visitors to the bear park on the Cherokee Indian Reservation were bitten by a caged cub on two occasions. A federal inspector watched on July 21 as a 9 year old girl fed a mixture of Lucky Charms cereal and cat food to a six-month-old bear cub at Chief Saunooke Bear Park. The animal bit her, leaving tooth marks on her wrist

Chief Saunooke Bear Park's manager and bear handler admitted that workers deny bears food because, "If you feed them … they ain't gonna eat for people." The park's bear handler was caught on video saying it took "20 shots … in the head" to kill one of CSBP's bears and that there is "nothing better than a bear that's been eating bread and apples all its life. Meat's good."

Other exhibits include bears in cement pits that can be fed by people dropping food into the enclosure. USDA inspection reports going back two years show citations related to overweight bears, cracks in the floors of the enclosures where bears live, and rusted doors leading to the bear dens.

Please ask U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called to revoke the bear park's license to exhibit animals.