Bear Country USA

About Bear Country USA

Bear Country USA is a drive-through wildlife park and zoo in the Black Hills near Rapid City, South Dakota. The park is not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Founded in 1972, it stretches over 250 acres, combining drive-through enclosures for larger animals with a separate walking area called Babyland, where young and small animals are exhibited. As its name suggests, the park is best known for its bears, though it also hosts other North American wildlife, including wolves, elk, mountain lions, and buffalo.

The park sits adjacent to U.S. Route 16, a tourist corridor that connects Mount Rushmore and Rapid City, on land that was already owned by the family that founded it. Visitors experience most of the park from inside their vehicles, driving through a series of enclosures separated from one another and from the roadway.

History

Dennis and Pauline Casey started Bear Country USA as a way to generate income from 200 acres of land they already owned along the Mount Rushmore–Rapid City corridor. Dennis, a dentist by trade, got the idea after visiting Lion Country USA in California. On a family trip to Yellowstone National Park, he had asked visitors why they were there, and more than a third said they wanted to see bears.

The park opened in 1972 with 11 black bears, one wolf, one mountain lion, one elk, and three buffalo. Growth was fast: by June 1973, the collection had expanded to 25 bears, 7 buffalo, 15 wolves, 8 mountain lions, 3 elk, plus a fox, a coyote, and deer. Different species were kept in exhibits separated by electric cattle fences, and the park stationed employees in guard towers to watch over both animals and visitors. Dennis and Pauline's seven children all helped run the operation. After Dennis died in 2000, his son Kevin took over as president until 2008.

In 2010, an internal dispute split the Casey family. Pauline, her daughter Shannon, and two of her sons gained control of the park's board of directors, prompting the four eldest sons to move to dissolve the company, arguing they lacked confidence in the other group's ability to run it. A court hearing that April valued Bear Country USA at more than $18 million, and Pauline's group bought out the eldest sons' remaining shares to take full ownership. Two of those sons, Dennis and Sean, left to start their own drive-through wildlife park, Bearizona, in Arizona. Pauline Casey died in 2022.

Some of the park's animals have gone on to other work: a bear named Casey became an animal actor, appearing as Baloo in a 1994 adaptation of The Jungle Book as well as in Because of Winn-Dixie and Evan Almighty. Early wolves from the park appeared in various film roles, and one of its first mountain lions was featured in Dodge commercials.

The park has also weathered several incidents over the decades. In 1973, a mountain lion inside the driving route attacked a child inside a mobile home; the family later settled a lawsuit against the park out of court. Animals have escaped on a handful of occasions, including three bears in 1984 after a snowstorm damaged a fence, cubs in 1985, and two cubs in 2017 who were found in a nearby backyard and returned. In 2006, two members of the Casey family were charged under the Lacey Act for illegally selling bear parts, including meat, paws, and gallbladders, worth about $26,699 between 1999 and 2001; both accepted a plea deal, paid restitution and fines, and served probation, and the park itself was fined $20,000. In the same case, the park pleaded guilty to illegally transporting two grizzly bears across state lines and agreed it could keep the animals but not sell them or their offspring for five generations.

Exhibits and habitats

The park's centerpiece is a three-mile driving route through enclosures holding various North American species, viewed from inside a vehicle with doors and windows kept closed. Near the driving route is Babyland, also called the Wildlife Walk, a walkable section that houses the park's bear cubs along with other young or small animals. Each spring, bear cubs are moved from their dens into Babyland; some are later sold to other zoos, while others stay on at Bear Country USA.

The park hosts an annual event called Cubfest, where visitors can meet and handle the park's bear cubs. Cubs are rotated out during the event so they can rest, and the event has been cancelled in years when there weren't enough cubs on hand to rotate.

The method used to separate cubs from their mothers each year has drawn scrutiny. The park says the practice protects cubs, since male bears may attack them, and helps prevent disease. Over the years, staff have used firearms, bottle rockets, chainsaws, and other loud devices to scare off adult bears during extraction. In 2023, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals criticized the park's use of fireworks in this process and accused employees of mistreating animals.

Animal highlights

Bear Country USA does not publish a species list, but its collection is built around North American wildlife, with black bears as the signature attraction alongside grizzly bears. Other animals in the park's exhibits include wolves, mountain lions, elk, buffalo, foxes, coyotes, and deer, reflecting the founders' original assortment from the park's earliest years.

Planning your visit

The park is a drive-through experience: visitors travel the three-mile route in their own vehicles with windows and doors closed, then can park and walk through Babyland separately. Beyond that, the available information does not specify current hours, ticket prices, or accessibility details, so confirm all of these on the official website before visiting.