Status of Exotic Bears in U.S. Zoos

ZooBinh said:
They switch the two species on the indoor and outdoor exhibits.
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As of this year, it appears the rotation of the sun and sloth bears at Columbus has ended. All signage for the sun bears has been removed from both exhibits and I have not seen the species in any of my visits in 2018. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find anyone knowledgeable to ask what has become of the sun bears (for all I know, they may still be around off-exhibit, and were removed from the exhibit rotation when Columbus received their new female sloth bear from Germany).
 
jibster said:
As of this year, it appears the rotation of the sun and sloth bears at Columbus has ended. All signage for the sun bears has been removed from both exhibits and I have not seen the species in any of my visits in 2018. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find anyone knowledgeable to ask what has become of the sun bears (for all I know, they may still be around off-exhibit, and were removed from the exhibit rotation when Columbus received their new female sloth bear from Germany).
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Thanks @jibster, this is what I remembered hearing as well. What I couldn't remember is if someone had figured out if the sun bears were just off-display or if they had passed. If someone could confirm this it would be greatly appreciated!
 
ZooBinh said:
@Moebelle could know. Sorry for tagging you.
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If this in regards to the bears in Columbus, I think they stopped with the rotation back as far as February. Signs for the sun bear were still there but as others have said, those are now gone. I will be able to reconfirm this on Sunday.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Thanks @jibster, this is what I remembered hearing as well. What I couldn't remember is if someone had figured out if the sun bears were just off-display or if they had passed. If someone could confirm this it would be greatly appreciated!
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I'll try to get a definite answer on my next visit, probably sometime next week.
 
Just confirming Catoctin still has 3 sun bears, the two youngest are in their mid teens. They had a fourth bear less than a year ago, Billy, but passed recently at the age of 38
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Tbh the status of bears in captivity in both America and Europe seems pretty grim apart from native species that can reliably imported... Europe seems to be in a bit better shape than we are, though, imo.
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Spectacled and Polar bears are doing more than fine in Europe, especially the Spectacled bear population is growing nowadays. Asiatic black bears and Sun bears are more of a problem, but at least there were 2 Sun bear births this year and moves are finally starting to take place. Asiatic black bears are very much dying out (being replaced by nothing or Spectacled bears), though there are some births here and there. Sloth bears are a bit of a strange story. 3.3 bears were imported from India in recent years and Rheine, Berlin and Leipzig are breeding, but offspring is sent to the US, as no European zoos seem to be that interested in Sloth bears....
 
lintworm said:
Spectacled and Polar bears are doing more than fine in Europe, especially the Spectacled bear population is growing nowadays. Asiatic black bears and Sun bears are more of a problem, but at least there were 2 Sun bear births this year and moves are finally starting to take place. Asiatic black bears are very much dying out (being replaced by nothing or Spectacled bears), though there are some births here and there. Sloth bears are a bit of a strange story. 3.3 bears were imported from India in recent years and Rheine, Berlin and Leipzig are breeding, but offspring is sent to the US, as no European zoos seem to be that interested in Sloth bears....
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Very good to know about the Andean and especially Polar Bears. I have more hope for Sun Bear in Europe and hopefully more interest can be generated in Sloth Bears. Shame about Asiatic Black Bears, but with there being multiple subspecies populations and a lot of non-subspecific animals this isn't really a surprise unfortunately.

@blospz Philadelphia's female Sloth Bear is an Indian, from Europe I presume.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Very good to know about the Andean and especially Polar Bears. I have more hope for Sun Bear in Europe and hopefully more interest can be generated in Sloth Bears. Shame about Asiatic Black Bears, but with there being multiple subspecies populations and a lot of non-subspecific animals this isn't really a surprise unfortunately.

@blospz Philadelphia's female Sloth Bear is an Indian, from Europe I presume.

~Thylo
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Kayla is from Idaho Falls Zoo.
 
Hi, I just read this thread. All three imported sloth bears from europe are Indian Sloth bears. Maybe you can help me with the subspecies in the US Zoo's? Which zoo holds Sri Lankan sloth bears and which Indian?
 
Senapus said:
Hi, I just read this thread. All three imported sloth bears from europe are Indian Sloth bears. Maybe you can help me with the subspecies in the US Zoo's? Which zoo holds Sri Lankan sloth bears and which Indian?
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All bears imported from Europe will be Indian as well as Philadelphia's female. Afaik all others will be Sri Lankan. I'm pretty sure all the zoos that imported from Indian have mixed pairs.

~Thylo
 
@blospz Fresno Chaffee Zoo didn’t phase out their sloth bears. They relocated them to other zoos for now but they will be comb back one Kingdoms of Asia opens.
 
Here is the new list. Updates might need to be made, especially for Sun and Asiatic Black Bears which are on the way towards local extinction. I remodeled the format to show what bears (besides polar, American black, and brown) are currently in U.S. zoos, without the specific numbers. I might change the title and include Canada soon as well, but for right now we’ll stick with this. As in my Zoobat Collections thread, both AZA and non-AZA zoos are counted.

Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
San Diego Zoo
Zoo Atlanta
Memphis Zoo
Smithsonian National Zoo

Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus)
Boise Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Capron Park Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Columbus Zoo
Creation Kingdom Zoo
Fresno Chaffee Zoo* (temporarily gone?)
Lee Richardson Zoo
Little Rock Zoo
Lowry Park Zoo
Sunset Zoo: need confirmation that these bears are gone, looks like renovations are planned for new exhibits
Miami Zoo
Montgomery Zoo
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo* (might not be on display yet?)
Philadelphia Zoo
Smithsonian National Zoo
Tautphaus Park Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo

Andean Bear (Tremarctos ornatus)
Alexandria Zoo
Baton Rouge Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Gladys Porter Zoo
Nashville Zoo
Oglebay’s Good Zoo (needs confirmation)
Phoenix Zoo
Queens Zoo
Racine Zoo
Reid Park Zoo
Rolling Hills Zoo
Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Smithsonian National Zoo
Salisbury Zoo
San Antonio Zoo
San Diego Zoo
Saint Louis Zoo
Toledo Zoo

Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus)
Atlanta Zoo
Audubon Zoo
Catoctin Zoo
El Paso Zoo
Gladys Porter Zoo
Honolulu Zoo
Little Rock Zoo
Miami Zoo
Oakland Zoo
Pueblo Zoo
Saint Louis Zoo
San Diego Zoo
Topeka Zoo
Virginia Zoo

Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus)
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Cohanzick Zoo, Bridgeton, NJ (needs confirmation)
Jackson Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo (Manitowoc, WI)
Metro Richmond Zoo
Natural Bridge Zoo
Roger Williams Park Zoo
Virginia Zoo
 
Fresno Chaffee Zoo and Sunset Zoo do not have sloth bears at the moment and Henry Doorly's are off exhibit until their exhibit is completed. Also, there are no more Andean bears at the Oglebay's Good Zoo (Nieve went to Toledo and Joaquin to Philadelphia).
 
Thanks @ThylacineAlive.

@blospz Thanks. Both Fresno and Sunset are planning on bringing their bears back though, right? I was under the impression that it was a temporary situation for both of them until they have new enclosures.
 
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