Peggy Hill v. Barry Coggins

867 F.3d 499
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedAugust 14, 2017
Docket16-1457, 16-1477
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 867 F.3d 499 (Peggy Hill v. Barry Coggins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peggy Hill v. Barry Coggins, 867 F.3d 499 (4th Cir. 2017).

Opinions

Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge Floyd wrote the opinion in which Judge Harris joined. Judge Bailey wrote a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

FLOYD, Circuit Judge:

Defendants Barry Coggins and Collette Coggins, doing business as the Cherokee Bear Zoo (collectively, “the Zoo”), keep, care for, and exhibit bears. In 2013, Plaintiffs Peggy Hill and Amy Walker (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) visited the Zoo, and observed four of the Zoo’s bears living in what Plaintiffs believed to be an inhumane setting. In response, Plaintiffs brought the instant suit against the Zoo, claiming that the Zoo’s allegedly poor maintenance of its bears constitutes an unlawful taking proscribed by the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. § 1538 et seq.

The district court approved of Plaintiffs’ standing to bring their suit, and found that the four subject bears were grizzly bears protected by the ESA. The court nonetheless concluded that the manner in which the Zoo maintains its bears—although “archaic,” Hill v. Coggins, No. 2:13-cv-47, 2016 WL 1251190, at *14 (W.D.N.C. Mar. 30, 2016)—does not amount to an unlawful taking.

For the reasons that follow, we affirm the district court’s rulings in favor of Plaintiffs on the issues of standing and the subject bears’ status as protected grizzly bears. We conclude, however, that the court’s ruling against Plaintiffs on the issue of whether the Zoo is committing an unlawful taking was premised on incorrect legal analysis. We therefore vacate that ruling and remand this case for further proceedings.

I.

Plaintiffs reside within the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina. Plaintiffs are members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (“EBCI”). Like many members of the EBCI, Plaintiffs possess a deep cultural and spiritual connection with wildlife, including bears.

On March 28, 2013, Plaintiffs visited the Zoo. Plaintiffs observed a sign on the Zoo’s premises advertising grizzly bears; they [503]*503then proceeded to two bear pits containing four bears, at least three of which were identified by nearby signs as grizzly bears. The pits were compact and made entirely of concrete. Each pit had a small pool of water, but neither had any vegetation nor any shade.

Plaintiffs observed the bears in listless form, pacing around in their pits. They also witnessed the bears begging for food, with patrons responding by feeding the bears apples and dry bread sold by the Zoo.

Ms. Hill observed the bears for a period of approximately thirty minutes, while Ms. Walker observed the bears for a period of fifteen to twenty minutes. Plaintiffs claim to have left feeling angry and upset with what they observed at the Zoo. Plaintiffs refuse to return to the Zoo while the bears are in their current living conditions, but they have expressed a desire to return if those conditions are improved.

After their encounter with the bears, Plaintiffs brought this citizen suit against the Zoo in federal district court. Plaintiffs alleged that the Zoo’s practice of keeping four (apparent) grizzly bears in the above-described living conditions constitutes a “takfing]” of a threatened species proscribed by 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a)(1)(B), and possession of a “taken,” threatened species proscribed by 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a)(1)(D). The basis for these allegations was Plaintiffs’ view that the Zoo’s conduct is a form of “harass[ment]” of, and “harm” to, its bears. See 16 U.S.C. § 1532(19) (defining “take” as, inter alia, “to harass” or “harm”). Plaintiffs sought injunctive relief in response to the Zoo’s alleged violations of the ESA.

The Zoo filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ suit, which the district court denied on June 17, 2014. The Zoo subsequently filed a motion for summary judgment, which the district court denied on August 13, 2015. As a result, on September 17 and 18, 2015, the parties participated in a bench trial. At trial, Plaintiffs gave testimony describing their observations of the bears, their corresponding reactions, and their desires to observe the bears living in humane conditions.

Plaintiffs also presented extensive evidence demonstrating that the subject bears are grizzly bears. This evidence includes exhibits of the Zoo’s webpage, entitled “Grizzlies Page,” J.A. 673-74, which identified the four bears as grizzly bears; signs at the Zoo’s facility identifying at least three of the four bears as grizzly bears; veterinary records identifying the four bears as grizzly bears; and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports identifying at least some of the bears as grizzly bears. Additionally, Edward Ramsay, D.V.M.—one of Plaintiffs’ expert witnesses and a diplómate of the American College of Zoological Medicine— identified the subject bears as grizzly bears based on his observation of distinctive shoulder humps on the bears.1

Finally, Plaintiffs proffered expert testimony that highlighted serious deficiencies in the Zoo’s treatment of its bears. Dr. Ramsay and Ms. Else Poulson—a zookeeper and animal behaviorist—testified that the Zoo’s virtually barren concrete pit enclosures, public feeding arrangements, and [504]*504apparent lack of meaningful enrichment programs fell short of generally accepted animal husbandry practices. Ms. Poulsen added that the, small concrete pits prompted the bears to engage in the abnormal behavior, of pacing, Ms. Poulsen, along with Dr. Ramsay, also identified the bears’ act of begging for food as an abnormal behavior that was attributable to the Zoo’s practice of public feeding and its inadequate nourishment of the bears.

The Zoo attempted to push back on Plaintiffs’ evidentiary presentation. Ms. Coggins testified that the Zoo had described the subject bears as grizzly bears only for promotional purposes. Additionally,’ David Ackerman, D.V.M.—the Zoo’s primary veterinary care provider—testified that the subject bears are European brown bears.

Ms. Coggins and Dr. Ackerman also testified that the subject bears are in good health, and do not demonstrate abnormal behavior. Dr. Ackerman added that although current zookeeping practices for brown bears—a category that includes grizzly bears—provide for more space and a more natural environment than the Zoo currently provides, he has had discussions with Mr. Coggins about implementing such practices in the future.'

On March 30, 2016, the district court issued its decision in this case. Hill, 2016 WL 1261190. The court first held that Plaintiffs had standing to litigate their ESA suit, because Plaintiffs had demonstrated that the Zoo was injuring their aesthetic interest in viewing the subject bears in a setting compatible with the ESA, in a manner that could be redressed by injunctive relief calling for such a setting. The court then considered the conflicting evidence, weighed the credibility of witnesses, assessed the relevant discovery history, and arrived at the conclusion that the subject bears are grizzly bears protected by the ESA.

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867 F.3d 499, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peggy-hill-v-barry-coggins-ca4-2017.