At least part of Meatball the bear’s fate is sealed: The nationally publicized California bear plucked from a Los Angeles-area swimming pool last week will not get a home in Colorado.
California game officials notified their Colorado counterparts Thursday.
“California does not intend to let Meatball come to Colorado,” said , said Randy Hampton, a spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “It’s a moot point.”
Carol Singleton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game, said in an e-mail, “We are working with several wildlife sanctuaries and animal care facilities to find a permanent placement for the bear in California.”
She cited legal complications in Colorado for the decision. Meanwhile, Meatball continues to wait in a cage at , a sanctuary near the Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego.
The 400-pound black bear — fat and happy on discarded food, including French fries and meatballs — made at least three trips to woodland neighborhoods north of downtown Los Angeles.
Typically nuisance bears are euthanized once they lose their fear of human encounters and return after they have been relocated.
Meatball has a big following, however. He has been featured on and in . A in his name had more than 27,000 followers on Thursday.
Hampton said regulations that govern sanctuaries prohibit nuisance animals from the wild.
Pat Craig, founder and operator of in Keenesburg, has made an impassioned plea to add Meatball to his den of about 90 bears at his sanctuary.
He said the definition of a sanctuary in Colorado law makes clear they are refuges for unwanted animals, and he has accepted others like Meatball, including from California.
Craig said he plans to push for clarity on the issue, so he can welcome other animals like Meatball.
Hampton said the regulations set the operating rules for the description Craig cites, and the regulalation is clear.
He called Meatball’s story is “tragic,” but noted Colorado puts down several nuisance bears every year, “and it breaks down our officers every time they have to do it.”
Hampton said the lesson of Meatball should be about the result of feeding bears — a choice by humans that’s almost always fatal to bears that will almost always come back for another meal.
He said exceptions can’t be carved out based on an animal’s celebrity, because they are all important to manage.
“The regulations we have in Colorado are based on sound wildlife management practices, and not how many times he’s been on TV or how many Twitter followers he has.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174, jbunch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joeybunch
