Orange County Zoo Makes a Bid to Provide Home for Monrovia Bear

The curator of the Orange County Zoo has asked the county for money to create a home here for Samson, the pool-hopping black bear from Monrovia.

Orange County Zoo curator Forrest De Spain said he is trying to obtain funding from the Orange County Board of Supervisors to build a large, $100,000 exhibit--complete with logs, rocks, a waterfall and a pool--to house the now-famous animal.

Several zoos and wildlife organizations, including the Orange County Zoo--which is at Irvine Regional Park in Orange--have made serious offers to permanently house the 400-pound bear, Department of Fish and Game spokesman Jeff Weir said.

Samson was captured in Monrovia on Sunday and was to have been killed until he won a last-minute stay of execution from Gov. Pete Wilson, after the neighborhood in which the bear had frolicked all summer mobilized to save him. He is staying at a Rancho Cordova state facility until officials can find a permanent home.

Weir said the department is looking for a facility that would provide Samson with at least 800 square feet of space and use the bear as part of an educational program. The Orange County Zoo is a serious contender, he said.