Cody Raney
Well-Known Member
Do Polar Bears require saltwater in their exhibits alongside freshwater or can they just have a large freshwater pool?
Marine mammals saltwater requirements (polar bears, cetaceans and pinnipeds)
- Thread starter Cody Raney
- Start date
filovirus
Well-Known Member
Per the AZA polar bear care manual:
"A pH of 7.5-8.2 and salinity 15-36 parts per thousand are recommended for marine mammals that require salinized water for their good health. However, the USDA Marine Mammal Standards and the Manitoba Standards (PBPA, 2002) do not currently require salt water for polar bear exhibits."
"Polar bears are excellent swimmers, using their large front paws as powerful oars and their rear paws as rudders, they can remain submerged for over a minute. The USDA Animal Welfare Act’s Animal Welfare Regulations (AWR, 2005) mandate that polar bear pools be a minimum of 1.5m (5ft) deep, and have a surface area of at least 9 m 2 (96 ft2). The Polar Bear Protection Act (PBPA, 2002) requires a pool with area of 70 m 2 (760 ft2), and with a deep end that is 3 m (9 ft) or more deep be incorporated within the polar bear habitat. The AZA Bear TAG recommends that accredited institutions meet or exceed these requirements and that the pools be irregularly shaped, containing both deep and shallow areas, as polar bears often utilize shallow areas to wade and play. It is not known if specific pool designs or shapes are more effective in preventing water-based stereotypic behaviors, but pools containing cool saltwater (12.7-21°C /55-70°F ) with live fish, smooth walls and ledges, an island, polar themed floats, moving logs/trees,waterfalls or streams, changing currents, and a wave machine, are suggested. If floating objects are provided in the pool, care must be taken to ensure that they do not damage the pool structure. It is also important to have freshwater (pond, stream, pool and/or drinking trough/s) available for the bears in addition to the pool."
tl;dr they're not required, but are suggested for the purpose of reducing stereotypic behaviors. for pure convenience's sake a freshwater pond is easier because it can double as a drinking water source.
formal citation:
AZA Bear TAG 2009. Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Care Manual. Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Silver Spring, MD.
"A pH of 7.5-8.2 and salinity 15-36 parts per thousand are recommended for marine mammals that require salinized water for their good health. However, the USDA Marine Mammal Standards and the Manitoba Standards (PBPA, 2002) do not currently require salt water for polar bear exhibits."
"Polar bears are excellent swimmers, using their large front paws as powerful oars and their rear paws as rudders, they can remain submerged for over a minute. The USDA Animal Welfare Act’s Animal Welfare Regulations (AWR, 2005) mandate that polar bear pools be a minimum of 1.5m (5ft) deep, and have a surface area of at least 9 m 2 (96 ft2). The Polar Bear Protection Act (PBPA, 2002) requires a pool with area of 70 m 2 (760 ft2), and with a deep end that is 3 m (9 ft) or more deep be incorporated within the polar bear habitat. The AZA Bear TAG recommends that accredited institutions meet or exceed these requirements and that the pools be irregularly shaped, containing both deep and shallow areas, as polar bears often utilize shallow areas to wade and play. It is not known if specific pool designs or shapes are more effective in preventing water-based stereotypic behaviors, but pools containing cool saltwater (12.7-21°C /55-70°F ) with live fish, smooth walls and ledges, an island, polar themed floats, moving logs/trees,waterfalls or streams, changing currents, and a wave machine, are suggested. If floating objects are provided in the pool, care must be taken to ensure that they do not damage the pool structure. It is also important to have freshwater (pond, stream, pool and/or drinking trough/s) available for the bears in addition to the pool."
tl;dr they're not required, but are suggested for the purpose of reducing stereotypic behaviors. for pure convenience's sake a freshwater pond is easier because it can double as a drinking water source.
formal citation:
AZA Bear TAG 2009. Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Care Manual. Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Silver Spring, MD.
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
This is similar to a question I have so I'll ask it here, are captive cetaceans and pinnipeds kept in fresh or salt water?
Captive cetaceans are typically kept in saltwater.
When Brookfield Zoo first exhibited an interest in keeping dolphins on display in the 1950s, director Robert Bean extensively researched "artificial sea water" out of consideration the animals would not survive without proper salinity. When the zoo finally constructed the older Seven Seas panorama and brought dolphins to an inland aquarium for the first time in the United States in the 1960s, they actually made an attempt to import real sea water that failed. They then began instead bringing in freshwater from Lake Michigan, filtering with chlorine and adding 2% salt. It was thankfully only a few years later they adjusted the salinity levels to 3% salinity, closer to real sea water.
Kitt
Active Member
USDA requires 16-36 ppt salinity for marine mammals. I cannot speak on cetaceans but for pinnipeds their eye health in particular is quite dependent on water quality and especially salinity levels.
§ 3.106 Water quality. (c) ; "Salinity. Primary enclosure pools of water shall be salinized for marine cetaceans as well as for those other marine mammals which require salinized water for their good health and well-being. The salinity of the water in such pools shall be maintained within a range of 15-36 parts per thousand. "
filovirus
Well-Known Member
This is more of a personal story than a useful fact, but I had not consciously considered this question prior to my first visit to the Shedd Aquarium. More specifically, I had not consciously considered this until during my "swim with the beluga whales" experience.
At least I hope that the water was salty because it's saltwater, and not because it came out of a beluga whale's mouth and onto my face and lips.