Out of Hot Water : Samson the Spa-Loving Bear Is Welcomed to New Home--With Pool--at Local Zoo

It was Samson mania at the Orange County Zoo on Tuesday, as hundreds of children and almost as many adults turned out to see Gov. Pete Wilson officially welcome the famous hot-tubbing black bear to his new home.

They came from Monrovia and Pasadena, Los Angeles and Irvine, waving bear hats, carrying bear drawings, sporting bear T-shirts and even singing odes composed for Samson.

Samson became a celebrity in 1994 after a Monrovia couple, Connie and Gary Potter, videotaped him lounging in their hot tub and pulling fruit from neighborhood trees.

The footage of Samson having a good time in the water endeared him to people across the country, but the bear soon found his life in jeopardy. After Samson swallowed a piece of plastic he had eaten while rummaging through trash, he found himself in the state Department of Fish and Game’s sick ward. And rather than release him back into Monrovia, the department prepared to kill him.

The campaign to save Samson was intense, and Wilson ultimately granted the bear clemency.

Tuesday’s public welcome of Samson to his new home was celebrated by everyone who had given $1, $5, $100 or thousands of dollars to help the zoo create a $125,000 habitat for the bear.

Monrovia resident Suzanne Rooney said she traveled to Orange for a firsthand look at the bear who had rambled through her neighborhood nearly two years ago.

“We’d see fruit torn down or maybe something knocked over, but he never did any harm,” Rooney said.

“The poor thing was just doing exactly what the rest of us want to do,” she said, referring to Samson’s hot-tubbing lifestyle.

But Rooney said she never really thought Samson would be euthanized.

“They held a public meeting at Monrovia City Hall, and there were little kids with placards saying ‘Don’t Kill Our Teddy Bear!’ No politician can resist that,” Rooney said.

Indeed, Wilson said Tuesday that he also found the bear’s appeal irresistible.

“Well, I feel a certain kinship with Samson, although I’m a little older and my teeth are in a little better shape,” Wilson said when he took the podium.

“In any case, he did win our hearts, and there’s a happy ending that Orange County will not be unbearable,” he joked. “I hope when they put me out to pasture, it’ll be in surroundings as pleasant as this.”

If Samson was the star of the day, Wilson, who ordered state Fish and Game officials not to kill the bear, was the hero.

Children clutched crayon portraits of Samson they hoped to give to Wilson, and throughout the short program, speakers thanked Wilson for not allowing forest officials to euthanize him.

Wilson, in turn, praised Southern California Edison Co.; Bear, Sterns & Co.; and other companies that helped pay for construction of Samson’s new home, a 3,000-square-foot habitat with trees, rocks, a 12-foot waterfall and a wading pool.

But mostly he thanked the children who gave up their allowances and held fund-raisers to save Samson, telling them they had “shown they care for others.”

After his speech, the governor, accompanied by six children, his entourage and dozens of reporters, went to see Samson in his new home.

As his visitors arrived, Samson climbed out of his pool to pace along his chain-link fence, occasionally standing on his hind legs and tilting his head back.

Many were moved to see Samson in person, recalling the images that had endeared him to them.

“You remember that one shot in particular, when he rested his chin on the edge of the hot tub?” Wilson asked. “I don’t know how anyone could resist this bear’s attractions.”

Samson neared the new plaque in honor of his residence just as Wilson unveiled it and then continued his strolling survey of the crowd--pacing, pausing and nosing at the fence.

Other animals lodged en route to Samson’s lair seemed more accustomed to visitors. A coyote lounged on a fallen tree, looking over only now and then, while a deer licked at the fence as children ran to point at it. Only a raven took notice, calling out “Whatcha doing, Ralph?” to passersby.

Among the children present were the second-, third- and fourth-grade classes of the Clairbourn School in San Gabriel, whose students raised $5,000 for Samson--many by giving up their allowances for all of last year.

“I tried to raise $100, and I couldn’t quite do it,” said Lauren Corradini of San Marino. “So I [asked] my mom if I could give up my whole allowance, would she give me the money. And she did, so I gave it to Samson.”