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

5.2 Physical signs of stress5.2.1 Minimal lean body mass 10Healthy polar bears carry hundreds of pounds of fat firmly attached to themuscle tissue. However, both Sheba and Inuka exhibit minimal lean bodymass (L.B.M.) i.e. are lacking muscle, which is a problem in captivity forboth males and females. Inuka does not have the muscle build up that herequires for his age and his size, probably as a direct result of lack ofexercise and inappropriate diet. In the wild, healthy adult male polar bearsdo not have visible necks due to a massive build up of muscle tissue fromtheir shoulders to the base of their heads. In males L.B.M. can be diagnosedby the obvious appearance of the neck, which is observed in Inuka. When afemale polar bear with insufficient L.B.M. stands up all of her fat falls downto her hips and she takes on the classic ‘pear shape’ and can be described asa “pear bear”. Sheba has minimal L.B.M. and fits this description and can betherefore be described as a “pear bear”.5.2.2 Fur loss 10Both bears have ahistory of repeatedsevere fur loss. Overthe period of thisstudy, both Shebaand Inuka were seento have large baldpatches over theirbodies. Sheba wasalso observed tohave some kind ofskin rash on herback, with missingfur and sores.Previous studies andobservations havealso reported severefur loss for bothbears. In February2005, Inuka hadSheba showing signs of severe fur lossreportedly lost all of his guard hairs which is not a natural state as at notime during a normal moult does a polar bear lose all of its guard hairs atone time; the normal moult is a gradual process. Severe fur loss is mostoften stress-related and long-term stress probably plays a role in the fur lossfor both Sheba and Inuka.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?67www.acres.org.sg