A question for Polar Bears at the Memphis Zoo, TN

[marvelsferb7]

As a Memphis local who used to live in Detroit and would visit the Detroit Zoo regularly, whenever I go to the Memphis Zoo, the polar bears seem a little antsy, especially during the humid summer months. Back when I was living in Detroit, the polar bears seemed fine because it wasn't humid at the summers and there was outdoor air conditioning for the bears and the animals get rewarded with the heavy snow that happens in the winter months in Michigan. In Memphis, it doesn't snow very much though it does get very cold in the winter months. But during the summer, it is like hell there and the polar bears don't seem too comfortable with it. The male one even does the weird dance moves at times and I never seen this at the Detroit Zoo at all. The question I ask is why would the Memphis Zoo decide to have POLAR bears in a sunbelt city that is known for humid summers and rare snowy days?

I am concerned not only for the bears but for the Zoo itself. I worry that some animal right's activist is going to take advantage over this and use it to spin the narrative to further his/her anti-Zoo crusade and give the anti-Zoo crowd some more justification to their cause. I am worried this could tarnish the Zoo's public reputation as it is accredited with the AZA and has done breeding programs for endangered animals (like the Pine Snake in the Mississippi river area) and recently saw the births of two endangered animals (Jaguars and African Penguins), it has the Pere David's Deer, and has a duo of Pandas, which means it has a rare privilege to have such rare animals under its care in the US.

If any of you live in Memphis like I do now and maybe worked/works there as a Zoo keeper, can you explain the reasoning of having polar animals in a hot humid region. I'm not against having polar bears in Zoos, as long as they live in places that snow heavily in the winter.

 

[Echobeast]

I do not personally know the bears in question but I'll try to answer some of your questions. One thing to keep in mind is that the animals are individuals and the different behaviors you are seeing between the bears in the two zoos could be because of a number of factors not just climate. Things like enrichment programs, training, diet and previously developed stereotypy could all be factors in their behaviors. Memphis Zoo is an amazing facility with some of the best animal care specialists in the country and if they didn't think they could keep polar bears ethically, they wouldn't have them. There are challenges with keeping polar bears in a southern climate though just as there are with keeping tropical animals in temperate climates but zookeepers generally are able to mitigate those challenges with changes to husbandry, training, exhibit design and enrichment. For instance, polar bears kept in warmer climates often receive a very low fat diet compared to their northern counterparts so they don't put on a blubber layer and overheat in the summer. This is why you'll see the bears getting more celery and carrots and less fish or meat. Overall, it is best to look at the situation as a whole and consider all the variables and this is what I tell people when they are concerned about an animal's welfare at accredited zoos. I also encourage people to reach out to the zoo and ask questions. Zoos are more open than ever to questions and are generally happy to answer them as they want to be on top of the messaging rather than AR groups driving the message and the zoo responding (ala SeaWorld and Blackfish).

 

[marvelsferb7]

As a Memphis local who used to live in Detroit and would visit the Detroit Zoo regularly, whenever I go to the Memphis Zoo, the polar bears seem a little antsy, especially during the humid summer months. Back when I was living in Detroit, the polar bears seemed fine because it wasn't humid at the summers and there was outdoor air conditioning for the bears and the animals get rewarded with the heavy snow that happens in the winter months in Michigan. In Memphis, it doesn't snow very much though it does get very cold in the winter months. But during the summer, it is like hell there and the polar bears don't seem too comfortable with it. The male one even does the weird dance moves at times and I never seen this at the Detroit Zoo at all. The question I ask is why would the Memphis Zoo decide to have POLAR bears in a sunbelt city that is known for humid summers and rare snowy days?

I am concerned not only for the usps tracking showbox speed testbears but for the Zoo itself. I worry that some animal right's activist is going to take advantage over this and use it to spin the narrative to further his/her anti-Zoo crusade and give the anti-Zoo crowd some more justification to their cause. I am worried this could tarnish the Zoo's public reputation as it is accredited with the AZA and has done breeding programs for endangered animals (like the Pine Snake in the Mississippi river area) and recently saw the births of two endangered animals (Jaguars and African Penguins), it has the Pere David's Deer, and has a duo of Pandas, which means it has a rare privilege to have such rare animals under its care in the US.

If any of you live in Memphis like I do now and maybe worked/works there as a Zoo keeper, can you explain the reasoning of having polar animals in a hot humid region. I'm not against having polar bears in Zoos, as long as they live in places that snow heavily in the winter.

issue got solved!!!

 

[Calvin Stevens]

There is a reason for the male's behavior. Originally he is from the Brookfield Zoo. The reason for his swinging is because of a learned behavior he had learned originally from Brookfield before he had come to Memphis. Keepers are trying their best to get him out of this learned behavior with enrichment and other activities.