Bears and Zoos

[Arizona Docent]

Are there any brown supsecies other than grizzly or alaskan here? I believe San Diego has chinese/manchurian brown bear and it seems I saw that or another asian type last month at Denver? (But both are old style bear pits - not worth seeing really).

New March issue of San Diego Zoonooz has a cover story on bears. It confirms they have manchurian brown bear in a pit right next to 2 grizzly bears. Maybe the only place you can compare 2 different subspecies of brown bear. It also says they are having special bear awareness days March 19-22, with snow for bears on March 21.

 

[Cat-Man]

At least they used their heads, hasn't one of the Tapirs in South lakes been killed by one of the bears? There's a youtube video of one of the Bears chasing a Tapir, looks really aggressive.

could you post a link for the video

 

[docend24]

At least they used their heads, hasn't one of the Tapirs in South lakes been killed by one of the bears? There's a youtube video of one of the Bears chasing a Tapir, looks really aggressive.

I've wanted to ask you for a link too, i couldn't find it.

 

[zoogiraffe]

In all fairness to South Lakes they had no problem until they got the male (Snoopy) as far as i know he is the only one that has had ago at the Tapirs.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Maybe the only place you can compare 2 different subspecies of brown bear.

Maybe in regard to today's US zoos, but there are various institutions worldwide where different Brown Bear subspecies (or hybrids) are kept together or closeby to each other.

 

[foz]

what's everyones stance on brown bears? should they be slowly phased out to make way for more endangered bear species like andean (spectacled) or sun bears?

can enclosures for polar bears be too large? i think it would be uquite hard to find any bears in a massive enclosure ending in dissapointment, obvously its good for the bears but perhaps not so good for the public.

 

[redpanda]

what's everyones stance on brown bears? should they be slowly phased out to make way for more endangered bear species like andean (spectacled) or sun bears?

In my humble opinion, absolutely. Endangered bear species should definitely get the preferential treatment as - supposedly - one of zoos' primary motives is conservation. On the other hand, brown bears can be used to illustrate more local conservation issues, such as the fact that britain used to be covered in forest but now it has all been cut down resulting in the extinction of brown bears in this country. So, where possible, more endangered species should prevail however if the conservation message is strong then there is nothing wrong with browns.

can enclosures for polar bears be too large? i think it would be quite hard to find any bears in a massive enclosure ending in dissapointment, obvously its good for the bears but perhaps not so good for the public.

This all depends on your view-point, obviously for the bears an enclosure can never be too large, except perhaps if it became bigger than it's natural territory (although this is unlikely considering the average polar bear enclosure is about a million times smaller than the area that the bear would inhabit in the wild). As such, it all comes down to what we think is morally acceptable for the bears. Obviously, if polar bears in the wild had food readily available to them, they would not have such a huge territory to hunt in. So how much land would they need - I would say that the six acre exhibit at scandanavian wildlife park is certainly big enough so anything between that and detroit's two acres is about right. That is just my opinion though, based on the fact that the bears need room to roam. However, if they were rotated, had loads of enrichment etc. then this huge area probably wouldn't be as important. It is also vital, I think, to give them grass and other substrate as too many exhibits are unrealistic mounds of concrete (and they're often the most expensive).

Hope that answers your questions

 

[foz]

concenring polar bears i was just wondering (having not seen the exhibit myself but heard and read about it) wether the huge size, though great for the bears, can have a negative impact on the viewing of the bears obviously its far better than an old pit exhibit with no natural subatrates

 

[redpanda]

Which exhibit are you talking about? If you mean the Scandanavian Wildlife Park, it appears from Toddy's pictures that viewing is made easier from the fact that the exhibit is open and there is quite a large number of bears. Also, there is a daily feeding demonstration where you are certain to see them.

 

[zooman64]

The reason that, increasingly, the Spectacled Bear is being referred to as the Andean Bear is because the zoo community feels that the name change will cause the local people to realise that this is THEIR bear and, moreover, is unique to them. This - or so the theory goes - will give the local people a sense of pride which will result in their wanting to protect the animal. For a similar reason, the Rothschild's Mynah, from Bali, is now usually referred to as the Bali Starling. Whilst I have chosen to use the name Bali Starling, I still call the Spectacled Bear by its original name.
As for Polar Bears in captivity - the mistake zoos made in the past was to try to reproduce the appearance of the bears' Arctic habitat, which at that time invariably involved the use of concrete. And by no stretch of the imagination can concrete be said to simulate an Arctic ice-floe. There is nothing wrong with providing Polar Bears with grass and even trees in their enclosure. They may not encounter trees in the wild, but that doesn't matter. They are surprisingly adept at climbing, and it is better to provide a stimulating enclosure for them even if that means diverting from what is naturalistic. In the past, zoos also failed to provide them with a big enough, or a deep enough, pool.

 

[BlackRhino]

Well one good thing about the simulated concrete is in cold climates where it snows the concrete becomes covered in a deep layer of snow, further simulating the bears natural habitat.

 

[Jurek7]

Chester Zoo once had the idea of building a Brown Bears an enclosure round the perimeter of the zoo and using them as a means of extra security for the zoo however the local council wasn`t to keen on the idea,so it never went any further.

ROTFL!

I guess effect will be similar to tigers in Magdeburg zoo. Row of people standing along the perimeter of the zoo watching bears.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Well one good thing about the simulated concrete is in cold climates where it snows the concrete becomes covered in a deep layer of snow, further simulating the bears natural habitat.

...and one bad thing about simulated concrete in warm climates and hot summers is that it absorbs less and emits more heat than natural rock and thus heats up the exhibit (or the water). Not that great for animals with a rather limited ability to cope with overheating (like polar bears)...

 

[snowleopard]

@Sun Wukong: interesting point on the topic of heated concrete in polar bear exhibits. The Oregon Zoo has had major problems with its 20-25 year-old polar bear enclosure in the summer, as scorching temperatures has made the cement far too hot for the bears. A massive redesign of the exhibit will occur in the next few years.

 

[Jurek7]

Maybe problem is lack of shade. And for shade you need trees or rocks which are very high.

Nurnberg zoo keeps their polar bears on grass with three trunks and real (protected) trees. Not very Arctic, but who knows - maybe its better?

 

[Sun Wukong]

@snowleopard: Yeah, and that's why Detroit's polar bear exhibit isn't as optimal as one might think. Judging from your photos, the tank walls there appear to be of rather lightish colour->increased reflection of light, which is neither good in terms of the overheating problem and the bears' and seals' eyes...

@Jurek7: Shade alone doesn't help a lot when the whole exhibit turns into a concrete "frying pan". In some areas of their distribution Polar Bears might encounter grass and trees-at least more often than fake concrete floes...

 

[foz]

are their any cases with polar bears, or any bears species in fact, developing foot problems or arthritus due to the concrete floors?

surely it would be cheaper for zoos to have natural substrate rather than covering the enclosure with concrete

 

[Sun Wukong]

Are there any cases with polar bears, or any bears species in fact, developing foot problems or arthritis due to the concrete floors?

surely it would be cheaper for zoos to have natural substrate rather than covering the enclosure with concrete

Quick and easy: Yes, there are, just as in various other species.

From the point of hygiene and labour input, natural substrate has several disadvantages. Besides, not so long ago it was a common trend in zooarchitecture to consider concrete foes as an adequate copy of the natural arctic habitat of polar bears...

 

[BlackRhino]

How do you know that the concrete in Artic Ring of Life isn't cooled during the summertime as I am sure the Detroit Zoo would make sure their bears are always comfortable.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Counterquestion: how do you cool concrete when it's already solid? And how should that avoid the light reflection due to the lightish colour of the bassin?

A lot of zoos are still unaware of this problem, as the recent study presented at the AAZV conference 2009 only illustrated.