PETA Calls Foul After Bear Pit Fan Named to Wildlife Commission

Chief Michell Hicks has
demonstrated
total disregard for the laws that the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is charged with administering. So why was he appointed to it? That’s
the question that PETA is demanding that North Carolina’s governor, speaker of
the House, and president pro-tem of the Senate answer.

Hicks
is the principal chief of the Eastern Band of
Cherokee Indians
(EBCI), and he has defended the Cherokee Bear Zoo, a
decrepit
roadside zoo on EBCI land that keeps bears in inhumane conditions that are completely
contrary to the commission’s standards of animal care—and even the protections
of the tribal laws regarding bears. The zoo confines two black bears to an
approximately 560-square-foot concrete pit, and four black bears to a 1,080-square-foot
pit. The pits are devoid of any vegetation or anything else to enrich the animals’
environment.

It’s
a far cry from the wildlife commission standards, which require that “[b]lack
bears held in captivity … shall be held
without caging under conditions simulating a natural habitat.” The standards
also require at least 1 acre of space for one
or two bears and additional space for more bears and that at least half
of the space be “wooded with living trees,
shrubs and other perennial vegetation.” Cherokee Bear Zoo’s pits are a
mere 1.3 percent and 2 percent of these space requirements.

The
bears pace back and forth, a sign of chronic psychological torment. Two other
bear zoos on EBCI land have been criticized for chronic abuse, and one of them was shut down following a PETA
investigation.

PETA
wants North Carolina officials to nullify Hicks’ appointment. Animals need
friends in high places—abusers do not.

What You Can Do

Please
join us in expressing your opinion about this appointment by e-mailing Gov. Pat McCrory.

And
e-mail Cherokee Bear Zoo
owners and ask that they let
the bears retire to a reputable sanctuary.