Ben the bear won’t return to roadside zoo in NC

FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Everyone agrees that Ben the bear will instead stay at his new home in California rather than return to Cumberland County.

The Fayetteville Observer reported both sides of the legal fight about Ben’s ownership agreed Monday to keep him at the sanctuary where he was moved earlier this month.

Ben is a black-and-brown bear hybrid who had lived the last six years at Jambbas Ranch Tours, a roadside zoo in Cedar Creek. A lawsuit was filed, and Ben was moved to a Performing Animals Welfare Society sanctuary in San Andreas, Calif.

Ben had lived in a 12-by-22-foot cage with a concrete floor. He now lives in a 2-acre habitat with grass and a pool.