Hearst Grizzly Gulch

Hearst Grizzly Gulch is an acre-sized habitat at the San Francisco Zoo that serves as a living connection to California history. The name honors the legacy of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon who became obsessed with the California grizzly bear in the late nineteenth century. In eighteen eighty-nine, Hearst challenged his reporter, Allen Kelley, to capture a wild grizzly for him. Kelley succeeded, bringing a massive bear named Monarch to San Francisco, where he became a statewide sensation and a symbol of California, eventually appearing on the state flag.