Awesome. A live Grizzly bear on display for jerk-off hunters to "better understand."

Here's what IDA has to say. We agree and recommend you make some phone calls, or whatever you feel is appropriate.

"Beginning Wednesday and continuing through the weekend, the Portland Expo Center is hosting the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen's Show, a trade show designed to "thrill" bloodsport enthusiasts. The promoter, Bill O¿Loughlin of O'Loughlin Trade Shows (www.oloughlintradeshows.com) boasts he's always had a live wild animal exhibit at the 31 hunting and fishing shows he has put on, and the dramatic draw in 2006 is a live, 650 pound grizzly bear named Brutus.

This particular bear was born in captivity, but all captive wild bears sadly originate from an orphaned baby bear whose mother was killed by a hunter. When not on the road for display or being used in commercials and movies, Brutus lives at Grizzly Encounter, a tourist attraction at the North end of Yellowstone Park Near Bozeman, operated by Bob Steele and Casey Anderson.

Also on display are Bob Steele's three black bears, boars Jacki and Andy and Cindi, a sow. The male black bears will be paraded around for paid photo ops with the public. Steele's two boars were born in captivity to Canadian black bears orphaned as cubs themselves. Cindy was an orphaned cub obtained from New Hampshire.

Please make calls to speak out against these wild bear exhibits!

Bill O'Loughlin, O'Loughlin Trade Shows
P.O. Box 80750
Portland, OR 97280
Phone: 503.246.8291
Fax: 503.246.1066

Chris Bailey, Manager of the Portland Expo Center
2060 North Marine Drive
Portland, OR 97217
Phone: 503-736-5200
Fax: 503.736.5201
Email: info@expocenter.org
www.expocenter.org

Let them know:

Orphaned bears should be rehabilitated, not made captive and used for entertainment.

The public can be better educated without live animals using life-sized animal models, photos, and video footage of the animals in their habitat.

What a live wild animal display really teaches the public, especially children, is that it is acceptable to keep wild animals in small cages for amusement.

Glamorizing bear hunting will only lead to more orphaned bears.

Consider these facts from an advocacy group, Bear Alliance:

All bear cubs orphaned in the spring will die.

Remember more than 4 cubs are orphaned every day of the spring hunt. All will die.

Every day, 8 bears are wounded and escape. Virtually all will die a prolonged and painful death.

In a hunted population wild female bears live to an average age of about 5 years and a male bear about 3 years. A black bear can live from 30 - 40 years in the wild. Dr. Rogers has stated that he found that 90% of mortality of bears over 1.5 years of age was from human causes - the vast majority from hunting."