Sorry to revive an old(er) discussion but are bears (such as brown or black) under any import regulations or restrictions thus they are unable to be imported or it is very costly to do so? Also, if there is a restriction, does it effect every species of bear, and bears that we already have in our region (for example, does it effect sun bears or sloth bears)?
The paucity of bears in Australia is down to one thing - the unwillingness of ZAA to commit to more than one species of bears (sun bears). There are no quarantine restrictions. Polar bears, Syrian brown bears and Sun bears are all species taken to be suitable for live import, so the chances of other species being turned out are extremely slim.
The brown bears are all phase-outs. The polar bears at Sea World and giant pandas at Adelaide are both external to the ZAA 'masterplan', if you will.
Personally, this is a bit of a bug-bear for me (if you'll pardon the pun), as bears are just about my favourite large mammals, and I think focusing on a single species that is the size of a large dog is a mistake. There are few animals more impressive than a full-size polar or brown bear (and I'm sure the same is true for sloth bears, which I'll have to go overseas to see).
Personally, this is a bit of a bug-bear for me (if you'll pardon the pun), as bears are just about my favourite large mammals, and I think focusing on a single species that is the size of a large dog is a mistake. There are few animals more impressive than a full-size polar or brown bear (and I'm sure the same is true for sloth bears, which I'll have to go overseas to see).[/QUOTE]
I could not agree more, but it would seem the ZAA want to down size on many species which maybe cheaper for them with less species to maintain in lesser number of exhibits but it's all part of the "master plan" , I feel one day in the future when so many species have been phased out of our zoos they will know it was a mistake
