Group Wants End to Killing of Black Bears for Palace Guards’ Hats

For Immediate Release:
May 4, 2007

Contact:
Melissa Karpel 757-622-7382

Louisville, Ky. — A PETA member dressed in a bear costume is following Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II throughout her visit to the U.S. and urging her to switch to faux fur for the Buckingham Palace Guards’ hats. Holding a sign that reads, "God Save the Bears," the "bear" will confront The Queen along each stop of her U.S. tour, including tomorrow’s visit to the Kentucky Derby.

Why is PETA giving The Queen a bear of a time? It can take one bear’s entire hide to make just one guard’s headpiece. The skins come from Canadian black bears who are often shot several times before they die. Some escape the hunters and bleed to death. When mother bears are killed, orphaned cubs are left behind to starve.

"We love pomp and circumstance as much as anyone—but not when the ceremony causes baby bears to be orphaned when their mothers are shot for hats," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "No tradition on Earth can justify cruelty."

For years, PETA Europe has been pleading with the royal family and the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) to end the slaughter—and has even presented the MoD with several alternatives made from the finest faux furs available—but has been met with one excuse after another. PETA and PETA Europe continue to pursue the royals, following The Queen and Prince Charles to their engagements at home and abroad.

PETA Europe has enlisted high-profile support from Sir Roger Moore, Morrissey, Julian Clary, Pamela Anderson, Twiggy, and Hayley Mills in calling for a ban on bear fur in The Queen’s Guards’ headwear.

For more information, please visit UnBearableCruelty.com. Video footage of bear hunting is available upon request.