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As part of our Year of the Bear campaign, PAWS is drawing attention to an animal that deserves more of our respect and protection in the wild and in captivity. Each month, we provide interesting and sometimes little-known facts about bears – as well as information about their exploitation in captivity.
Following passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, the practice of “cub petting” – selling opportunities to hold, pet, and take photos with tiger and other big cat cubs – is now illegal.
But what about other species? You may be surprised to learn that some roadside facilities offer cub petting with baby bears. Here are the problems with this inhumane practice.
Baby bears are deprived of their mothers
Cub petting operations may breed bears or buy them from breeders. In these situations, baby bears are cruelly torn from their mothers shortly after birth, even though they would naturally spend about 17 months learning survival skills from their mother.
Cub abuse
Cubs are subjected to the stress of excessive handling, sleep deprivation, injury, and abuse at the hands of facility staff. Caging is frequently small and barren and fails to address a bear’s complex needs.
Risks to the public
Bears have non-retractable claws which, in nature, allow them to climb trees at six weeks of age. When used for cub petting, even a young bear can cause injury to the people handling them.
Children and adults alike risk exposure to diseases that can be transmitted from bears to humans, including E. coli and rabies.
Cubs are treated as “disposable”
Bear cubs grow very fast and soon they can no longer be handled and exploited for profit. The cubs may be sold to other zoos, private owners, or used to produce more cubs.
Unwanted bears may be slaughtered for the exotic meat market or the illegal trade in bear parts.
Breeding for profit
As long as cub petting exists, bears will continue to be bred and innocent bear cubs will face exploitation, abuse, an uncertain future, or early death.
A dangerous message
The handling of bear cubs sends the dangerous message that these animals are safe to approach. You could say that it habituates people to bears.
This may lead people to take unreasonable risks around wild bears – such as coming close to them in nature (sometimes for selfies) and feeding them – putting both bears and humans in danger.
You can help captive bears
- Never pet or take a selfie with a bear of any age.
- Never attend a show with performing bears or other wild animals.
- Share what you’ve learned with your friends, family, and colleagues.
Visit our Take the Pledge for Bears page where you’ll find information about bears in captivity and how you can help them. You can also sign our petition to stop bear cub petting operations that exploit baby bears for profit.
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