Bears and Zoos

F

foz

Well-Known Member
okay new thread of mine on bears. really its just egenral discussion on bears and their exhibition in zoos.

from your own view points:
which bear species make the best/worst exhibits? which species would you like to see more/less of? what is the best exhibit for bears? should all bears be kept in zoos (thinking about polar bears)?

from a more personal point i spend each night designing my zoos on paper but cant make the decision between two bear species asiatic black or andean bears, i feel like slamming my head against the wall (its seriously driving me mental!!)
 
I think Sun bears make a great exhibit, as they have a real cute factor due to their small size. However, I think they all really make good exhibits on some level.
I'd like to see more Sloth bears in the UK or anywhere for that matter.
Don't have a problem with Polar bears in zoos, but I just wish more zoos would give them better enclosures.
 
foz said:
from your own view points:
which bear species make the best/worst exhibits? which species would you like to see more/less of? what is the best exhibit for bears? should all bears be kept in zoos (thinking about polar bears)?
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I seem to recall reading an in depth study some years ago (maybe in IZN) which looked at occurance of stereotypics, breeding, longevity etc etc. I am sure that polars and possibly suns came out worst for dealing with electric fencing.

In general zoos have to give enough thought to each individual species' requirements, and not treat them as variations on a theme. I think all of the species can work perfectly well as exhibits: ex-Glasgow Asiatic blacks with trees to climb, Scandinavian (sorry don't know which collection, but I'm sure somebody will remind me) open-range tundra polars and the large enclosed pieces of forest for browns in a number of European collections. It is just a matter of understanding the species.
 
I would love to see sun bears as ashely-h said , i have never seen one but they seam very interesting. Is there still a small zoo down south that has one ?
 
Interesting thread foz

I've have seen seven of the eight species of bears (except the sloth bear :() and the most interesting species in my opinion were the polar bears. There is nothing like seeing the worlds' largest land carnivore swimming so gracefully right in front of you. As for the less interesting, It would have to be a sleeping giant panda. And whether or not which bear species are apporiate for captivity, I think all species are apporiate if given the proper care.

As for your decision between the Asiatic black bear and Andean bear, it will depend what the layout of your zoos is. If your going for a taxonomy or zoogeographical display, I would pick the Andean bear for two reasons. It is the closest living-species to the now extinct short-faced bear and it is the only bear species native to South America. Asia meanwhile has many species of bears that may be a little more interesting than Asiatic black bears. If this doesn't help, then post a relpy to my comments, with you zoo ideas so I can help you with your problem.
 
As long as they're exhibited properly with loads of enrichment, I think all bear species can make great exhibit animals. Counting subspecies as well, I have seen Polar, Grizzles, European Brown Bears, American Black, Syrian Brown, Sloth and Spectacled Bears in varying quality of exhbits. I would love to see Asiatic, Andean, Sun and Pandas.
 
I think that bears are probably the animal that is least suited to captivity. I have not seen Detroit Zoo's exhibit. I have never seen a great zoo enclosure for bears. The pics of that scandinavian zoo do look great.

To me it seems people get so wrapped up in how the visitor views the exhibit. Does it look naturalistic!! From what l can gather Detroits exhibit is to some extent allot of concrete painted white! Yet people rave about it.

It is a given that bears are highly intelligent and very sensitive to global warming.Speak to any bear kleeper about winter coats and there iregualrtity. This suggest to me that they have a stong connection with there natural enviroment.

So when we take the Polar bear away from that enviroment. Reproduceing it, is impossible. Giving them enough space is not going to happen. Allowing them to live in solitary by choice is unlikely.

Some of the smaller bears seem to do better. Yet there enclosres like that at DC zoo are incredibly small for the Sloth bears. Yet they do look to the public fantastic! Emmen zoos new Sloth bear exhibit is very promising. Offering a great variety of enrichment.

So to sum it up maybe since the public does expect to see bears mabe just have sloth bears in the city zoos. Phase out the rest. As l have seen polar bears go from seemingly active enriched animals. To stressed and anxious, showing sterotype behaviour. This change seems to happen over night. Often a couple of weeks after settling into a new exhibit.

It seems very rare once sterotype behaviour has begun to stop it. A bear showing this behaviour makes for a very bad example and exhibit.
 
Meaghan Edwards said:
As long as they're exhibited properly with loads of enrichment, I think all bear species can make great exhibit animals. Counting subspecies as well, I have seen Polar, Grizzles, European Brown Bears, American Black, Syrian Brown, Sloth and Spectacled Bears in varying quality of exhbits. I would love to see Asiatic, Andean, Sun and Pandas.
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Andean and Spectacled are the same species just using different common names to me they will always be Spectacled and not this new fangled name of Andean.
 
The KCZooman said:
As for your decision between the Asiatic black bear and Andean bear, it will depend what the layout of your zoos is. If your going for a taxonomy or zoogeographical display, I would pick the Andean bear for two reasons. It is the closest living-species to the now extinct short-faced bear and it is the only bear species native to South America. Asia meanwhile has many species of bears that may be a little more interesting than Asiatic black bears. If this doesn't help, then post a relpy to my comments, with you zoo ideas so I can help you with your problem.
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thanks for the idea. i dont particularly organise my zoos by geographical, although i see the benefits of having a geographical layout i like to keep people guessing whats round the next corner. both bear species have good/bad points. for example black bear: could be recieved from a asian rescue centre freeing up places for more animals in those centres. andean (or spectacle): opportunity for a mixed exhibit

thanks for your imput
 
zoogiraffe said:
Andean and Spectacled are the same species just using different common names to me they will always be Spectacled and not this new fangled name of Andean.
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yes they will always be specticaled to me where the hell did the name andean bear come from
 
I agree too, also, why would they change Siberian tigers to Amur? I still call them Siberian lol.
And I also find the Giant panda least interesting, whilst in Berlin I found myself wandering back to the Polar bears as all the Panda was doing was sleeping... And zoos pay so much for them :rolleyes:
I seem to recall reading an in depth study some years ago (maybe in IZN) which looked at occurance of stereotypics, breeding, longevity etc etc. I am sure that polars and possibly suns came out worst for dealing with electric fencing.
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What does this mean? Do they escapoe easily through electric fences then?
 
foz said:
from a more personal point i spend each night designing my zoos on paper but cant make the decision between two bear species asiatic black or andean bears, i feel like slamming my head against the wall (its seriously driving me mental!!)
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Why not display both species?

:)

Hix
 
Hix said:
Why not display both species?

:)

Hix
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nice idea but i try and set limits to my zoos, amount i can spend and space limitations.

about sloth bears. i'm a bit confused with this species as in london/whipsnade the bearsseem to be really inactive yet whenever i look at the national smithsonian zoo webcam ( Asia Trail - National Zoo| FONZ ) i always see a bear quite active..even if most of the time they're pacing. has anyone else noticed this??:confused:
 
foz said:
from a more personal point i spend each night designing my zoos on paper but cant make the decision between two bear species asiatic black or andean bears, i feel like slamming my head against the wall (its seriously driving me mental!!)
Click to expand...

Im designing my own zoo 2 lol!!-I have many folders with enclosure designs in :rolleyes:
Umm I'd go with asian, just because there are not many in UK (could be wrong-lol) where as ive seen spectacled a couple of times...
Id like 2 see more european browns because i find them fascinating! Also American Black bears 2 (are there any in Uk?) In my opinion i like whipsnades enclosure, as it has cover and the bears can get away from the public! Also like the idea of feeding them!

Regards, PK
 
foz said:
nice idea but i try and set limits to my zoos, amount i can spend and space limitations.

about sloth bears. i'm a bit confused with this species as in london/whipsnade the bearsseem to be really inactive yet whenever i look at the national smithsonian zoo webcam ( Asia Trail - National Zoo| FONZ ) i always see a bear quite active..even if most of the time they're pacing. has anyone else noticed this??:confused:
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The Brown bears seem inactive as they're probably foraging inamongst all the vegetation. And the Sloth bears have always seemed really active when I visited, maybe you were just unlucky.
And I think there is one zoo that holds Asian black bears, and Woburn has American blacks, but no others.
 
ashley-h said:
The Brown bears seem inactive as they're probably foraging inamongst all the vegetation. And the Sloth bears have always seemed really active when I visited, maybe you were just unlucky.
And I think there is one zoo that holds Asian black bears, and Woburn has American blacks, but no others.
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heres a list of all bears in the UK
Asian Black-Dudley and heythrop
American balck-Woburn
Eurasian brown-Whipsnade, Heythrop, Dartmoor zoo, Blair Drummond safari park, camperdown wildlife park
Sloth-Whipsnade
Specticeled-Chester, South Lakes, Belfast and Jersey
Sun-Belfast, Rare species conservation centre(RSCC)
Polar-Ediburgh, heythrop

Hope this helps:)
 
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