Bob Barker seeks tourism boycott of Cherokees in NC

ASHEVILLE (AP) - Former game show host and longtime animal rights activist Bob Barker predicted that tourists will avoid Cherokee Indian attractions in North Carolina until the tribe stops three local zoos from displaying bears in cramped enclosures.

Barker met with leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on Tuesday to urge them to stop the privately owned zoos on the reservation from displaying bears in pit-like enclosures and small cages.

"Things are going to change on the Cherokee reservation, I promise," Barker said at a news conference yesterday. "This is going to be a blight on tourism. Americans love animals, and all they have to know is that animals are being abused."