WELLSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) — Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organized an event in northern Utah on Saturday to protest the Idaho attraction Yellowstone Bear World.
The protest on Saturday afternoon coincided with the Baby Animal Days event at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville. PETA said the protest was a response to the bear cubs for Baby Animal Days being supplied by Yellowstone Bear World.
“In nature, bear cubs spend their time playing, exploring, and socializing with one another and their mothers,” PETA said on the social media event page for the protest. “But at Yellowstone Bear World, these curious and unweaned babies are taken away from their mothers prematurely and forced into close proximity with humans — whom they would naturally avoid.”
PETA said the early separation of cubs from their mothers is a threat to the cubs’ long-term development — and cubs have been seen at Yellowstone Bear World attempting to nurse on staff members’ chins and arms and other bears’ ears “since their chance to nurse naturally from their mothers has been stolen from them.”
The protest was a continuation of the organization’s yearslong efforts against Yellowstone Bear World. PETA reportedly had an undercover investigator working at the bear attraction in 2022.
According to the PETA investigation, last updated in March of 2023, the animal rights organization was able to collect enough evidence against the attraction to cause Yellowstone Bear World to face thousands of dollars in fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Through its investigation, PETA claimed Yellowstone Bear World mistreated bear cubs (including subjecting the bears to inappropriate diets and medical neglect) and endangered the public by exposing visitors to cubs that are reportedly “too large and strong to be used in direct contact with the public.”
PETA also claimed that Yellowstone Bear World has shipped at least 88 bears over the last decade to an exotic animal dealer who allegedly sends bears off to slaughter.
PETA said it has sent evidence of its findings to OSHA, the United States Department of Agriculture (for alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act) and Idaho Fish and Game.
Saturday’s protest saw participants holding signs with statements including “Bear cubs are not photo props” and “Baby animals belong with their mothers.”
