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

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Stimulating olfactory and rubbing behaviour:• Different flavours (from drugstores or perfumeries) on the groundand on elevated structures to elicit sniffing behaviour.• Hides for rolling and rubbing.• Resin or spruce-needle oil on tree trunks and the ground elicitsrubbing.• Scent trails sometimes leading to concealed food items.6. Starting an enrichment programmeThe ideas and practical suggestions made above should be applied in sucha manner as to provide the bears with options for a sufficient variety ofactivities to enable them to carry out a broader range of naturalbehaviours. While many of the activities will, by necessity, be quitedifferent from those experienced by bears in the wild, the dailyprogramme should aim to keep the animals occupied as much as possible.Thus it should aim to provide the individual bear with:• Security from disturbance or harassment, in the form of nestingsites and means of avoiding threats from conspecifics; a goodrelationship with familiar, friendly keepers (of the utmostimportance if the animal is to feel relaxed and safe).• An environment which provides the kind of complexity(environmental diversity) to which the animal is naturally adapted,including such features as soft ground nesting sites for polar bears.• Opportunities for the animals to achieve simple goals with a reward,such as retrieving food from concealed pipes. This is often referredto as “control of the environment”. Given appropriate facilities,bears may create their own goals in play, for example, polar bearshave invented games involving stalking and pouncing on trafficcones, or bouncing a ball off a wall.• Unpredictability in the form of variations in the diet, novel objects,training to new tasks, novel arrangements of existing materials.It must be emphasized that environmental enrichment is more thanplacing a toy in a cage: it is a whole and varied programme designed togive animals variety and choice.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?80www.acres.org.sg
8.2 Long-term recommendationsSince the polar bears at Singapore Zoo cannot be released to the wild, theyshould be moved to more appropriate accommodation elsewhere. However,as there are concerns as to whether Sheba would survive a relocation (dueto her age), Acres recommends that only Inuka be relocated once Shebapasses away.Singapore Zoo can clearly afford this since for the financial year of2004/2005, Wildlife Reserves Singapore had a surplus of thirteen milliondollars.While locating a suitable facility for Inuka in a more appropriate climate,Acres urges Singapore Zoo to ensure that any potential recipient institutionbe equipped with a large naturalistic bear paddock(s) that meets the variousguidelines (in Appendices) outlined in this report as far as possible.What’s a polar bear doing in the tropics?81www.acres.org.sg
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animal is diving. They also eat car
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individual’s own choices. This ab
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Following his investigations into t
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What’s a polar bear doing in the
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Accommodation20 All animal accommod
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Table 3.1 Categories of behaviours
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TABLE 3.5 Lying flat behaviour prof
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3.2.1 Adaptation to Arctic coldPola
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3.2.2 Reasons for panting and lying
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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 40 and 41: What’s a polar bear doing in the
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 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 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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