Saving the Suarez Seven

On March 6, 2002, US marshals and representatives from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service confiscated "Alaska," one of the polar bears languishing in the Suarez Brothers circus, currently stationed in Puerto Rico. As we reported in the last issue of the AWI Quarterly, Suarez kept seven polar bears, noted for their naturally frigid arctic habitat, in a traveling menagerie that visits Caribbean nations with incredibly warm climates.

"Alaska" explores her new surroundings in the Baltimore Zoo, drastically different from the inhumane circus cages from which she was freed. (PETA)

The circus's records for this particular bear clearly were fraudulent as the circus used information for a bear who already had died years earlier in a German zoo - a case of ursine identity theft. "Alaska's" new home, after a 30-day quarantine period, is in the Baltimore Zoo, providing much-needed companionship to the zoo's formerly solitary polar bear, "Magnet."

Meanwhile, the remaining "Suarez Six" continue their insufferable stay in Puerto Rico where temperatures rise to 113°F while the circus waits to see if the Fish and Wildlife Service will grant an export permit to leave the US and head to the island nation of St. Maarten.

Unfortunately, the United States Department of Agriculture has ignored its responsibilities under the Animal Welfare Act and its own policy on animal care and appears unwilling to confiscate the polar bears, despite repeated violations of the minimum standards of care mandated under the law. Even misdemeanor cruelty charges brought against the circus by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources could not free the "Suarez Seven," as the judge ruled in favor of the circus on February 28, 2002.

While the circus sweats out the decision of the Fish and Wildlife Service on granting the export permit - in the face of mounting public pressure against the circus - Congress again has weighed in on the side of the polar bears. On March 12, 2002, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and 38 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives introduced The Polar Bear Protection Act of 2002, "to make sure that the other six bears are not forgotten and that polar bears will not suffer like this in the future." Among the original cosponsors is Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner, Anibal Acevedo-Vila. The legislation simply prohibits anyone from knowingly making "available any polar bear for use in a traveling show or circus." "The bottom line is that the circus is just not an appropriate place for a polar bear," said Congressman Blumenauer.  We have the power to stop this outrage, end the cruelty and prohibit future mistreatment of these amazing animals."

"It has been stated by the Suarez Brothers Circus (and their two veterinarians) that these polar bears are 'acclimated to the tropics' because they were born in captivity and they have traveled constantly, a few times to the tropics. I would like somebody to explain to me, how, in only 10 or 20 years, the Suarez Brothers Circus and their veterinarians have changed all the structural and functional adaptations in these bears which has taken Nature (Natural Selection) more than 50 million years of evolution to develop for Arctic life....  To presume that these animals are 'acclimated to the tropics' to obtain permits and justify deficiencies in the maintenance, care, and husbandry of the polar bears represents an insult to the intelligence of any honest veterinarian, zoologist, scientist, or any person with genuine interest in wildlife."

- Dr. Pedro E. Nunez Sepulveda, Veterinarian in Puerto Rico