What's a Polar Bear Doing in the Tropics? - Animal Concerns ...

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individual’s own choices. This ability of the animal to have some controlover its environment appears to be crucial in stress reduction and thereforereduce the risk of associated health problems. 29Bears in captivity are highlysusceptible to the developmentof abnormal behaviours, inparticular stereotypies 30,31,32and excessive inactivity. 33Typical stereotypies behavioursdisplayed by bears includepacing, repetitive swimming,weaving, head-swaying andoral forms such as tongueflickingand teeth grating. 30Suboptimal and restrictive captiveconditions often result in the developmentof stereotypies, 34 which typically arisewhen an animal’s environment lacksappropriate stimulation. 35 Stereotypies arebehaviour patterns that are invariant instyle, performed repetitively, and appearto have no function. They are of concernbecause they may indicate poor welfare,and are sometimes detrimental tohealth. 30Suboptimal conditions can also result in frustration and increased levels ofstress, leading to development of aberrant behaviours such ashyperaggression, hypersexuality, lethargy and other problematicconditions. 27 Captive conditions also decrease the level of the animals’general reactivity and markedly change their behaviour. 13Most progressive zoos now recognize that confining animals in boring,behaviourally impoverished enclosures that fail to satisfy their speciesspecificneeds is no longer acceptable. 27Each animal species has evolved adaptations to survive in their ownparticular natural environment. It is thus extremely important that zoodesigners, zoo management and animal care staff allow for a free expressionand utilization of these adaptations in captivity. 27 Progressive enrichmentstrategies should be implemented to encourage animals to take control oftheir own lives by providing an environment that allows them choice andcontrol.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?12www.acres.org.sg
1.5 Welfare concerns for polar bears in captivity:International scientific studiesPolar bears are poor candidates for captivity, even in the best ofcircumstances. Captive polar bears are notorious for their tendency toexhibit repetitious stereotypic behaviours. These behaviours include headswinging,pacing, tongue-flicking, and circular or to-and-fro patterns ofswimming. 36 Other abnormal behaviours that have been described includehead twisting and head weaving. Polar bears are particularly well known forpacing 13 and probably the most universal movement observed in almost anyzoo in the world by polar bears is the expression of “head-body turns”.According to WSPA, this movement is often seen as part of pacingstereotypies, but may also be expressed as part of swimming stereotypies. 21.5.1 British zoos studiesStudies undertaken at British Zoos in the 1980s and 1990s documented andexamined in detail the abnormal and stereotypic behaviours displayed bythe polar bears there. 36,37,38In one survey carried out in British zoos between 1989 and 1991, all polarbears in these zoos showed stereotyped behaviours at one time or another,with the most common being that of pacing to-and-fro. 36 In this survey, zoopolar bears were recorded spending an average of thirty-three per cent oftheir day engaged in stereotyped behaviours. One polar bear spent sixty percent of its time engaged in stereotyped behaviour. 36 In a separate study,abnormal behaviour was seen to be displayed by all polar bears in fiveBritish zoos. 38With captive polar bears, stereotypic behaviour is particularly resistant tochange. 36 It is not only wild caught polar bears that are susceptible todeveloping these abnormal behaviours in captivity. Captive born individualsappear just as prone to development of abnormal behaviours, includingstereotypic behaviours. 38Captive polar bears are also prone to other forms of abnormal behaviour.Polar bears have been recorded displaying pronounced inactivity or apathy,for example sitting “trance-like” in one squatting position for hours at atime, staring at a wall. 38 It has been suggested that the original cause of thispointless squatting behaviour was boredom, this boredom then led to a formof ennui, then the bear became mentally moribund. 38 It has long beenrecognised that cerebral degeneration is a common feature amongstopportunist species kept in captivity. 38 Apathy in captive animals has beenrecorded by numerous scientists including Hediger (1950, 1955), 39,40 Meyer-Holzapfel (1968) 41 and Morris (1964) 42 .What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?13www.acres.org.sg
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disintegrating objects in an enclos
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interesting. At no time were the be
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5.2.3 Condition of teeth 10Sheba ha
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demonstrating species-appropriate b
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Today there is just one polar bear
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Providing natural substrates in enc
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22. Wood, D. 1995. Bears. Whitecap
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APPENDIX I: GUIDELINES FOR ENCLOSUR
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• For polar bears the ratio of wa
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APPENDIX IV: GUIDELINES FOR SUBSTRA
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APPENDIX VI: GUIDELINES FOR PRIVATE
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• Environmental enrichment should
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