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

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5.1.2 Problems in husbandryUse/access of the indoor areas.The bears spend two thirds of their lives locked in small, dark indoorcages with no natural light when they are off exhibit.Providing captive animals with free access to both indoor and outdoor areasmay give them more choice and control over their environment.The Polar Bear Protection Act, Manitoba, requires that polar bears must beallowed to move freely between the exhibit area and the off-exhibit area atall times. 11WSPA recommends that bears shall be allowed free movement indoors andoutdoors at all times and that polar bears shall have free access to dens atall times. 2The polar bears at Singapore Zoo spend approximately two thirds of the timelocked in indoor cages which are described as sub-standard by Poulsen(2005). 10 The fact that these cages, which have been described as small,dark and humid, are the bears primary residence is obviously a majorwelfare concern.The fact that the bears are locked inside from between five and six pmevery evening until the next morning is a factor that may be very stressfulfor them as evening/night time are naturally the hours of most activity forpolar bears in the wild. If there is no alternative than to lock the bears in atnight for security reasons, then at the very least the indoor accommodationshould be of a much higher standard and go further towards meeting theneeds of the bears as far as possible.In the past, the polar bears were locked out onto the outdoor exhibit duringthe day with no indoor access. In a meeting in 2004 the zoo explained thatthe door was sometimes left open during the day, but this meant that publicwould hardly see the bears if they retreated into the den often.In the 2004 report, Acres made the recommendation that the bears be givenaccess to the indoor dens at all hours to provide some relief from the heatand humidity. 18 Subsequently, in 2005, Acres was informed that the polarbears now had access to the indoor air-conditioned area during the day.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?60www.acres.org.sg
Enrichment programmeSingapore Zoo does not appear to provide a meaningful and sufficientenrichment programme for the bears.In the wild, polar bears display a compelling curiosity about anything thatenters their environment 20,50 and will manipulate objects and substrates intheir environment. 76,77 This type of behaviour occurs during hunting andforaging routines and also during the construction of dens and daybeds. 36Therefore, bears which are denied such behavioural opportunities could beconsidered disadvantaged. 36 It seems likely that polar bears have an intrinsicability and motivation to manipulate objects and support for this theorycomes from studies which have shown that captive polar bears domanipulate objects regardless of season, sex and age. 36It is therefore clear that polar bears are intelligent, inquisitive animals whoneed constant stimulation. It has been suggested that the investigative andexploratory foraging styles of opportunistic feeders, such as bears, rendersthem particularly prone to frustration in environmentally-impoverishedcaptive environments. 42 The potential of a species for manipulation andobject-related activity appears to be an indicator of behavioural andpsychological needs in captivity. 78,79Environmental enrichment is a technique for improving the environmentand/or enclosures of captive animals by increasing their behaviouralopportunities. 80 The aim of environmental enrichment is to provide anenvironment in which captive animals behave as closely as possible to theirwild counterpart. 81Enrichment may include furniture, but can also comprise non-fixed itemssuch as logs, branches and scratching posts. Many animals can also benefitfrom auditory and olfactory stimuli (the introduction of new scents andodours has been a successful method of stimulation for several bearspecies. 70 ) Ice snacks consisting of fruits, meats etc. frozen in a bucket ofwater have been seen to keep polar bears occupied. 38Environmental enrichment influences the physical, mental and social wellbeingof captive animals, frequently resulting in beneficial effects on overallanimal health. 26 Appropriately planned and implemented environmentalenrichment programmes can contribute to improved animal health throughcreating opportunities for the animal to exert some form of control over itsenvironment. 26Environmental enrichment should be viewed as an integral part of an active,preventative, veterinary medicine programme 26 and should not beconsidered as an optional feature of wild animal husbandry; it should beregarded as a necessity.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?61www.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 64 and 65: Private areasThe lack of private ar
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

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