A 30-year-old bear who was neglected and abused at a roadside zoo her entire life finally hibernated for the first time – and the sleep has sure made a difference.
Fifi is now rehabilitating at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, where she has grown back her coat of fur and is gaining her strength back after being rescued last year.
Up until last year, she and three other bears had been living at a zoo – which was shut down for multiple Animal Welfare Act violations in the 1990s – in tiny rusted cages that PETA compared to ‘a dilapidated doghouse’.
Fifi and her cell mates, Bruno Pocahontas and Marsha, were in horrible shape when The Wild Animal Sanctuary rescued them.
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Fifi, a 30-year-old former circus bear, hibernated for the first time in her life after being rescued from a defunct zoo last year. She is now rehabilitating at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado
Up until last year, she and three other bears had been living at a zoo in tiny rusted cages. They were released in open space for the first time in years when they arrived at the sanctuary last year
Fifi had severe arthritis, her teeth had been filed down and she was described as a ‘skeleton’ because of how little muscle she had. The other bears were in similar conditions.
‘The first three or four steps [Fifi] took when we let her out of her transfer cage, she got into the water tank,’ Pat Craig, the executive director of The Wild Animal sanctuary told Inside Edition.
She said that before that moment, Fifi hadn’t been exposed to that much open space.
‘[We knew] her spirit was going to soar really quickly, [even though] her body was going to take a while to catch up,’ Craig added.
In just five months, Fifi’s muscles began to develop and her coat grew back to its natural color, despite its ‘terrible white color’ when she was first rescued.
‘You can really notice the difference hibernation makes,’ Craig told Inside Edition.
The was the first winter that Fifi and the other bears were able to hibernate.
When Fifi was rescued she had severe arthritis, her teeth had been filed down and she was described as a ‘skeleton’ because of how little muscle she had. The other bears were in similar conditions
The bears were brought to PETA’s attention when the organization was alerted to to a suspicious advertisement giving away cages, with the condition that whoever took the cages must also take the bears
Brittany Peet, a representative from PETA in charge of captive animal law enforcement, told Inside Edition that most captive bears can’t hibernate because their owners want them on exhibit all year round.
‘All they had were tiny cages. I don’t think they would have hibernated if they had the opportunity – it’s not the right environment,’ she added.
She said that the bears ‘will never know deprivation again’, now that they’re at The Wild Animal Sanctuary.
PETA intervened after being alerted to a suspicious advertisement giving away cages, with the condition that whoever took the cages must also take the bears, Peet said.
‘They were so well-hidden in the country that no knew even knew they were there,’ Craig told Inside Edition.
Fifi has been brought to the zoo as a cub where she learned to perform tricks alongside other bears.
Fifi had been living at the zoo since she was a young cub, where she learned to perform tricks alongside other bears
PETA said that the bears were owned by an elderly couple who likely wanted someone to put the bears down
It was at the shutdown zoo that Fifi, now 30 years old, grew up.
The bears had been working animals, forced to perform tricks like riding bicycles at the defunct Big Bear Farm Zoo Park which closed its doors in 1995 and have languished there ever since.
They began pacing and swaying in the tiny cages, a sign that they are suffering from physical and mental deprivation, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
But they were rescued in July and taken on a 24-hour trip by road to their new home in Colorado, the Wild Animal Sanctuary.
Craig said that the couple taking care of the bears were very old, and likely waiting for someone to put the bears down.
‘Bears are so overpopulated in captivity that no one wants them,’ Peet said. ‘You literally cannot give them away, especially when you’re talking about four geriatric bears.’
Peet added that there are more than 1,000 bears living in captivity across the United States, often living in makeshift zoos and traveling shows.
Instead, Fifi and the other bears have been rehabilitating at the sanctuary, where a PETA spokesperson said that the bears ‘will never know deprivation again’
Fifi and the three bears she was rescued with were four of more than 1,000 bears living in captivity across the United States