Humans and bears - Wild encounters

[brotherbear]

http://www.peta.org/action/action-alerts...-pits-now/  
 
Right now, in roadside zoos across the country, dozens of bears are trapped in dungeon-like pits for human amusement. Being confined to pits, like those at the Cherokee Bear Zoo in North Carolina, can cause bears to suffer from a psychological condition known as zoochosis, in which they pace or walk in endless circles out of sheer boredom and deprivation. Living on concrete slabs can cause arthritis, pressure sores, and other painful, debilitating diseases.
After PETA submitted a petition in 2012 calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ban bear pits, nearly 9,000 members of the public, including leading bear experts and veterinarians, pledged their support. Yet despite promising action in its March 2016 response to PETA's petition, the USDA continues to allow the Cherokee Bear Zoo and other exhibitors to subject bears to an existence completely at odds with their natural disposition and the Animal Welfare Act.
Bears are highly intelligent animals who have the capacity to experience a wide range of emotions. In the wild, they forage for a variety of foods and dig in the soft earth, brush, and leaves—but the concrete pits that the Cherokee bears are forced to call home deprive them of everything that is natural and important to them. Surrounded by four solid walls, they cannot scan the horizon, gain a perspective on their surroundings, or make much use of their acute sense of smell.
Please join us in calling on the USDA to do its job and ban bear pits now! 
  

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