Countywide : Samson, a Black Bear, to Get Pen at O.C. Zoo

Samson, the pool-hopping black bear, won’t have to trespass to take a dip when he moves to his new home at the Orange County Zoo.

In his new digs, the 400-pound bear will have his run of a scratching tree, a waterfall and, of course, a pool.

Department of Fish and Game officials said Thursday that Samson, who was captured in Monrovia in September, will be permanently housed at the zoo. He will be moved in about four months, department spokesman Jeff Weir said.

Samson spent his summer lumbering in a rustic Monrovia neighborhood, stealing avocados, soaking in hot tubs, even stopping by regularly at one family’s back patio to watch television through the glass door.

He was captured and was to have been killed until he won a last-minute stay of execution from Gov. Pete Wilson after the neighborhood in which he roamed all summer mobilized to save him.

The bear was staying at a Rancho Cordova Fish and Game facility in Northern California until officials could find him a permanent home.

Weir said that the Orange County Zoo, which is part of Irvine Regional Park, had been a top contender for some time.

“For the past month and a half, our attitude has been: If you build it, he will come,” Weir said, referring to the $100,000 bear pen that will be built for Samson.