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

Today there is just one polar bear still being held in captivity in the UnitedKingdom at Edinburgh Zoo, and the public pressure on the zoo not to acquireany more polar bears once she dies is immense.With regard to the trend towards phasing out the keeping of bears in zoos,the Chief Curator at Chester Zoo, the United Kingdom’s largest zoologicalgarden has stated, “…if we cannot provide for the environmentalrequirements of any animal properly we should not keep them. Historically,a number of bear species were kept here but since the last aged femalepolar bear died here in the early 1990s we have not felt it appropriate toreplace her…In summary, historically bears have had a ‘poor deal’,somewhat masked by their [physical] resilience.” 70 Similarly, the followingresponse was given by Chester Zoo when questioned on the absence of polarbears at the zoo: “Our last two polar bears were Amos who died in 1989leaving Sabrina who unfortunately died of a tumour in 1992. A decision wastaken at that time, not to keep Polar Bears in the collection any more as itis very difficult to provide the right kind of conditions for the typeof environment they require and, they are no longer a highly endangeredspecies.” (Email correspondence, 27 January, 2006).The situation is much the same for zoos in Switzerland. Until a few yearsago, Basel Zoo and Zurich zoo were the only two zoos in Switzerland stillkeeping polar bears. Both zoos have now come to the conclusion that, inprinciple, polar bears should not be kept under the conditions the zoos canoffer at present. 87 As the zoos cannot at present build large new exhibitsthat meet the requirements of the species, the keeping of polar bears hasbeen phased out. 2Similar enlightenment is also found in Germany, where zoos are phasing outthe keeping of not only polar bears, but also other bear species. 2In 1993, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) published areport based on behavioural studies of polar bears in the United Kingdomentitled “The behaviour of captive polar bears”. 36 Subsequently, UFAWmade the following statements and recommendations about the keeping ofpolar bears in captivity:• Zoos have the responsibility to improve the environments in which thepolar bears are kept according to UFAW recommendations.• Where conditions are so poor that improvements are impracticable theanimals should be found new homes or as a last resort humanely putdown.• In the absence of suitable environments polar bears should not bebred.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?74www.acres.org.sg