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

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SubstrateThe polar bear enclosure does not accommodate any soft substrate andthe flooring is full concrete. Concrete flooring is an inappropriatesubstrate for any captive wild animal, including bears, and fails toprovide for species-specific behaviours (such as foraging or digging) andthe construction of day beds.The provision of natural substrates should be considered a fundamental needfor polar bears when trying to accommodate for their natural behaviour inthe wild.As the polar bear enclosure atSingapore Zoo is concrete there isno natural ground vegetation. Theexhibit also does not accommodateany areas of soft substrate. Duringthe study period, the polar bears atSingapore Zoo were not seen to beprovided with any soft substrate ormaterials suitable for nest building.Legislation regarding substratesPolar Bear Protection Act, Manitoba 11• The exhibit area must include anarea at least 125m² that iscovered by soil, straw, wood chipsor other suitably soft substrate.Polar bears are well known for their habit of constructing day beds to restin. A polar bear day bed is a hole about half to one and a half metres deepand from one to two metres wide usually dug in the snow. 25 Wild polar bearshave been shown to manipulate a wide range of soft substrates other thansnow to build day beds, including lichen and moss, sand, tall grass andkelp. 36 Soft substrate to dig into of significant depth so they can adjust theirown body temperature is a basic polar bear need. 10All bears, including polar bears, also build nests, sometimes padded withvegetation, before settling down to sleep at night. 17Captive bears appreciate the comfort of nesting material. 13 It has beensuggested by some that nest building constitutes a behavioural need forbears. 8 The term ‘need’ has been defined by Fraser and Broom (1990) as adeficiency in an animal which can be remedied only by obtaining a particularresource or responding to a particular environmental or bodily stimulus. 46 Ifthe animal is unable to satisfy a need, the consequence, either shortly oreventually, will be poor welfare. 8 Because bears construct nests both in thewild and in captivity, the inability to do so may lead to behaviouralfrustration as well as physical discomfort. 8What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?52www.acres.org.sg
The provision of naturalsubstrates, either naturalground vegetation or areas ofloose natural materials or both,is a common recommendation inthe guidelines of zooassociations and animal welfareorganisations (Appendix IV).Singapore Zoo does not appearto implement any of theserecommendations in terms ofproviding natural substratesfor the polar bears.Past studies have providedevidence of a preference forsoft substrates exhibited bypolar bears. For example, in onedocumented case at Dublin Zoo,a polar bear was seen to spendeighty per cent of his time inthe sand and bark litterfollowing modification of hisenclosure to include areas ofthese substrates. 13ConcreteAs a substrate, concrete fails to providefor any species-specific behaviours such asdigging or foraging. Lack of suitablesubstrate for these behaviours is a seriouswelfare issue as it limits the opportunitiesavailable to the bears to be activelyinvolved in activities such as digging. Ithas been suggested that animals kept inan environment with little or nothing tooccupy their time often show abnormalbehaviour. 70Concrete is also particularly unsuitablesubstrate for polar bears, a speciesnotorious for pacing, as contact with thishard substrate may lead to abrasions andsores on the polar bears’ feet, or footpadulcerations commonly observed in animalsexhibiting stereotypic pacing on concretesurfaces. 71 Another problem with usingconcrete as a substrate, especially in atropical climate, is that it radiates heat inhot weather, 8 thus subjecting the bears toextremes of temperature. Concreteflooring is therefore a serious welfareissue for the polar bears at Singaporezoo.The provision of naturalsubstrates such as earth, sand orwood chips can lower the thermal load on animals. 8,72Natural substratessuch as earth and wood chips are also desirable as substrates in terms oftheir manipulability and, unlike concrete, do not carry the risk of bearssplitting their claws. 8In the absence of snow to roll in, captive polar bears also require softsubstrates to effectively dry their fur after coming out of the water. 10The importance of the provision of natural substrates for polar bears is socrucial that the Polar Bear Protection Act, Manitoba, requires that polarbear enclosures contain an area of soft substrate measuring at least125m². 11 Singapore Zoo does not meet this requirement.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?53www.acres.org.sg
Page 16 and 17: animal is diving. They also eat car
Page 18 and 19: individual’s own choices. This ab
Page 20 and 21: Following his investigations into t
Page 22 and 23: What’s a polar bear doing in the
Page 24 and 25: Accommodation20 All animal accommod
Page 26 and 27: Table 3.1 Categories of behaviours
Page 28 and 29: TABLE 3.5 Lying flat behaviour prof
Page 30 and 31: 3.2.1 Adaptation to Arctic coldPola
Page 32 and 33: 3.2.2 Reasons for panting and lying
Page 34 and 35: 3.2.3 Heat stress experienced in Si
Page 36 and 37: the pool area. However, theeffectiv
Page 38 and 39: 3.2.4 Algal growth in furInuka cove
Page 42 and 43: Table 4.1 Categories of behaviours
Page 44 and 45: TABLE 4.4 Activity pattern of Sheba
Page 46 and 47: TABLE 4.6 Abnormal behaviour profil
Page 48 and 49: 4.2.1 Prevalence of abnormal stereo
Page 50 and 51: to more space, a more complex, quie
Page 52 and 53: Guidelines and LegislationsGuidelin
Page 54 and 55: equirements stated in the Province
Page 56 and 57: problem with these old designs is t
Page 60 and 61: In the 2004 report, Acresrecommende
Page 62 and 63: FurnitureThe enclosure does not pro
Page 64 and 65: Private areasThe lack of private ar
Page 66 and 67: 5.1.2 Problems in husbandryUse/acce
Page 68 and 69: At a workshop on the Behavioural Ne
Page 70 and 71: disintegrating objects in an enclos
Page 72 and 73: interesting. At no time were the be
Page 74 and 75: 5.2.3 Condition of teeth 10Sheba ha
Page 76 and 77: demonstrating species-appropriate b
Page 80 and 81: Today there is just one polar bear
Page 84 and 85: Providing natural substrates in enc
Page 86 and 87: Stimulating olfactory and rubbing b
Page 90 and 91: Singapore Zoo states that they are
Page 92 and 93: 22. Wood, D. 1995. Bears. Whitecap
Page 94 and 95: 66. Baars, D. and Weegenaar, A. 199
Page 96 and 97: APPENDIX I: GUIDELINES FOR ENCLOSUR
Page 98 and 99: • For polar bears the ratio of wa
Page 100 and 101: APPENDIX IV: GUIDELINES FOR SUBSTRA
Page 102 and 103: APPENDIX VI: GUIDELINES FOR PRIVATE
Page 104 and 105: • Environmental enrichment should

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

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