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

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Private areasThe lack of private areas in the outdoor enclosure means that thepolar bears are constantly in public view.The enclosure does not provide sufficient private areas where the bearscan adequately retreat from public view or from each other.Private areas are extremely important for an animal’s welfare and shouldtake precedence over the ability of visitors to constantly view the animals.Exhibiting animals in a way thatdoes not allow them privacy canresult in detrimental physiologicaland behavioural consequences.The presence of visitors has beenshown to have measurable effectson certain aspects of an animal’sphysical state. For example, aLegislation regarding private areasPolar Bear Protection Act, Manitoba 11• Any window that allows publicviewing must be located in a positionthat allows the polar bear to avoidpublic viewing if desired.correlated increase in the cortisol levels in captive animals as the number ofvisitors increases has been documented. 75 Cortisol is a hormone known to bereleased during times of stress. Being surrounded by a ‘faceless’ crowd ofunfamiliar and often noisy visitors most likely constitutes a source of stressfor the animals. 8What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?58www.acres.org.sg
Animals should also be able to retreat from the view of other animals in thesame enclosure. Less dominant animals should not only be able to avoidphysical contact with dominant animals, but should be able to removethemselves visually as well. Visual barriers should be provided for polarbears, as bears are not naturally sociable animals. 13The provision of private areas for bears to retreat from the public and cagemates is considered an essential enclosure feature for bears by several ofthe zoo association and animal welfare guidelines (Appendix VI). The PolarBear Protection Act, Manitoba, states that polar bears must be allowed toavoid public viewing if desired.The outdoor enclosure for the polar bears at Singapore Zoo does not provideany privacy areas where the bears can completely retreat from public viewor from view of each other. When in the outdoor enclosure and pool, thepolar bears are unable to completely avoid visual, auditory and olfactoryexposure to visitors, whose numbers may be great.Facilities that impose such inevitably stressful conditions must be consideredinappropriate. As polar bears are by nature solitary animals, the ability forthem to escape from cage mates should be considered essential. Also, asInuka appears to exert dominance over Sheba, it is important that sheshould be able to retreat from his view whenever she desires.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?59www.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 58 and 59: SubstrateThe polar bear enclosure d
Page 60 and 61: In the 2004 report, Acresrecommende
Page 62 and 63: FurnitureThe enclosure does not pro
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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