A 20-year-old black bear named Gracie died this week at Animal Ark, a wildlife sanctuary in Washoe County, Nevada, after the stress of nearby wildfires overwhelmed her body. 

The Bug Fire and the Fred Mountain Fire tore through the region this month, forcing Animal Ark to relocate smaller animals for safety and leaving the sanctuary and surrounding community reeling. The rest of the animals are stable for now, but the facility itself faces a long rebuild.

Animal Ark gives a permanent home to wild animals that cannot be released back into nature. Losing Gracie is a hard reminder of how fragile that care becomes when disaster strikes, and how much support the sanctuary will need to protect the animals still living there.

Washoe County's Board of Commissioners and Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo can direct disaster recovery resources toward local wildlife facilities like Animal Ark. Emergency funding and rebuilding support shouldn't be an afterthought for a sanctuary that has cared for vulnerable animals for two decades.

Sign this petition to call on Washoe County and the state of Nevada to prioritize wildfire recovery funding for Animal Ark, before more animals pay the price for a disaster they didn't cause.