Polar Bear Exhibits

It is rather doubtful that individuals, espcially polar bears, with severe stereotypical behaviour will successfully breed and reproduce; You might end up with several "Knuts"...And then there's the (unfounded?) fear that new arrivals might also "learn" and develop stereotypies on their own. (the reason why it is hard for owners of crib biting horses to find a place for their horse...)
 
The main problem is that there really aren't that many truly great polar bear exhibits in the world. This link is one that I posted much earlier on this thread, but the conditions in Japanese zoos are absolutely appalling. The 100+ photos show cramped, boxlike exhibits:

http://zoocheck.com/calgary/Japan Polar Bear report 2007.pdf

However, the 35 or so zoos in North America that contain polar bears offer the public many good enclosures, but arguably the Detroit Zoo is the only one that deserves to be recognized internationally. The Scandinavian Wildlife Park in Europe has a large, excellent polar bear enclosure, but the North American exhibits are almost all too small, packed with too much concrete, and lacking in enrichment. What is the point in around 10-15 zoos in North America currently building/renovating their polar bear exhibits if none of them are going to be truly outstanding? It's a waste of tens of millions of dollars, because in twenty years they will all be obsolete. We've all seen exhibits that were built in the 1980's or earlier, and perhaps only a third of them stand the test of time as representing the best in zoo construction.
 
Sun Wukong said:
there's the (unfounded?) fear that new arrivals might also "learn" and develop stereotypies on their own. (the reason why it is hard for owners of crib biting horses to find a place for their horse...)
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Hi Sun,

I doubt if polar bears learn behavioral patterns like this. In elephants it could be: I myself seen little calf imitating swaying mother. But between adult bears i don't think it will happen.
 
snowleopard said:
I posted much earlier on this thread, but the conditions in Japanese zoos are absolutely appalling.
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Well, now they have example to learn from!

Japanese zoos are completely unknown to me. Any zoobeat member is in Japan? What are trends in zoo exhibits there? What is contact between Japanese and Western (perhaps mostly American West Coast) zoos?
 
Zooplantman said:
@okapikpr - Louisville (whenever Glacier Run is built) will have a large sand & grass area in the polar bear enclosure. As you know, it gets difficult to have both natural substrate and underwater view. Louisville tried to keep the two far enough apart to spare the water LSS too much stress. We'll see how that works out.

Polar bear exhibits without water are too boring for visitor and animal alike. And of course, its easier to chill a pool than an entire enclosure.
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Thanks for the info Zooplantman!
 
snowleopard said:
The main problem is that there really aren't that many truly great polar bear exhibits in the world. This link is one that I posted much earlier on this thread, but the conditions in Japanese zoos are absolutely appalling. The 100+ photos show cramped, boxlike exhibits:

http://zoocheck.com/calgary/Japan Polar Bear report 2007.pdf

However, the 35 or so zoos in North America that contain polar bears offer the public many good enclosures, but arguably the Detroit Zoo is the only one that deserves to be recognized internationally. The Scandinavian Wildlife Park in Europe has a large, excellent polar bear enclosure, but the North American exhibits are almost all too small, packed with too much concrete, and lacking in enrichment. What is the point in around 10-15 zoos in North America currently building/renovating their polar bear exhibits if none of them are going to be truly outstanding? It's a waste of tens of millions of dollars, because in twenty years they will all be obsolete. We've all seen exhibits that were built in the 1980's or earlier, and perhaps only a third of them stand the test of time as representing the best in zoo construction.
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I think that Columbus and Brookfield will provide proper competition, in due time, for Detroit in international recognition.
 
I sincerely doubt either Columbus or Brookfield will come close to Detroit's innovations, space or dedication of staff resources (i.e. enrichment and training) devoted to exhibiting polar bears. All of Columbus's recent exhibits are poorly detailed, wanna-be Disney Animal Kingdom-type exhibits, without the taste or budget. I've seen Brookfield's plans, and although they will be rotating brown and polar bears through three separate habitats, each is quite small (< 10,000 sf each), and are all surrounded by gunite walls. No predator/prey element or underwater tunnels ala Detroit, nor any big open grassy areas.

I'm more curious to see what Rotterdam comes up with--they usually innovate, even in smaller spaces.
 
It would be fantastic if a zoo (any zoo!) would design and construct a truly world-class polar bear exhibit. Of the 35 in North America barely any of them are good enough to please both zoo visitors and zoo staff. It's the same story with elephants, as of the almost 80 North American zoos with elephant exhibits probably no one here at ZooBeat can name more than a handful that are world class. The vast majority of elephant and polar bear enclosures simply duplicate other exhibits, which are mediocre at best. I sincerely hope that the Brookfield Zoo's bear enclosures are worthwhile, and the same goes for the 6-acre asian elephant proposal at the Oregon Zoo.
 
From what I've seen Oregon's will be run of the mill...

*ends converstaion of the verbotten topic of elephants*
 
Jurek7 said:
Hi Sun,

I doubt if polar bears learn behavioral patterns like this. In elephants it could be: I myself seen little calf imitating swaying mother. But between adult bears i don't think it will happen.
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Don't underestimate bears, especially Polar Bears. Who knows what comes up in their minds when they get bored...
 
About natural surface and underwater viewing:
Nurnberg and Rhenen have polar bear exhibits which are almost whole grass, but they both had underwater viewing. Also, somebody earlier wondered if polar bears may dig and look dirty. There was no signs of it.

Rhenen pool had also ca.100 trout inside - perhaps meant as enrichment.
 
Jurek7 said:
About natural surface and underwater viewing:
Nurnberg and Rhenen have polar bear exhibits which are almost whole grass, but they both had underwater viewing. Also, somebody earlier wondered if polar bears may dig and look dirty. There was no signs of it.

Rhenen pool had also ca.100 trout inside - perhaps meant as enrichment.
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Thank-you. VERY interesting and good to know!
 
@Jurek7: I wonder if more and more zoos are going to be heading in the direction of grass and dirt for polar bear exhibits. Perhaps there can be grassy fields separated from the water by a concrete perimeter, or even small mounds of built-in rock, so that the water doesn't become clouded with sediment. The Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota, is taking a step in the right direction by shipping out its bears and ripping up all of the concrete and replacing it with more natural substrates.
 
Great link Zooplantman! I particularly enjoyed the "Exhibit Design: Submitted Presentations" section, as there was a focus on three zoos and their polar bear exhibits. It was terrific to have so many photos of the Detroit Zoo's Arctic Ring of Life, the Baltimore Zoo's tundra buggy, and Seaworld Australia's exhibit. Detroit's appears to still be one of the truly great bear exhibits in the world.

The behind-the-scenes confines of the bears is still somewhat antiquated at all three zoos, as the concrete dens have tiny pools that are only big enough for a single bear. One would imagine that the mammals spend a large chunk of their lives off-exhibit, and therefore don't have nearly the amount of space to roam as perhaps the public imagines. However, it was great to see three different zoos that have made advances in the management of captive polar bears.

There is also a wealth of other information on the link.
 
Another note: Gus the infamous Central Park Zoo polar bear appeared to significantly drop many of his stereotypical signs once he finally had 24/7 access to his night den. Interesting that all other enrichment devices failed to curb his pacing except for unlimited access to the den.
 
Zooplantman said:
Polar Bears International - International Polar Bear Husbandry Conference Proceedings
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Thanks!

Interestingly, Mrs. Vickery and Mrs. Mason produced very nice summary of treating polar bear stereotypies. I would say they match what I, simple zoo visitor, seen.
Understanding and treating stereotypies in bears
It is interesting that Mrs. Mason was earlier co-author of a study about supposed effect of large home range on stereotypies, which prompted some people to think that polar bear stereotypies cannot be avoided.

BTW - zooplantman, are you involved in designing some polar bear exhibit? I guess recreating tundra plants is something like insult to somebody who designed rainforest. ;)
 
Jurek7 said:
Thanks!

BTW - zooplantman, are you involved in designing some polar bear exhibit? I guess recreating tundra plants is something like insult to somebody who designed rainforest. ;)
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Actually, after I had several "rain forest" exhibits in a row, I was hungering for a new challenge. My design for Louisville Zoo's "Glacier Run" includes a small tundra with blueberries, grasses, meadow-rue, etc., etc. For the public, not the bears. There is currently nothing like it in the US.

On the other hand, my design for MN Zoo's "Russia's Grizzly Coast" includes blueberries, blue honeysuckle, blackberries and other forage in the exhibit with the brown bears. We'll see how they survive! I'd love to see bears chowing down on the landscape if the shrubs can take it.
 
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Cool! Did you include Kamchatka geyser and "death valley", where seeping gases kill small animals and scavengers, like bears? Would be good to introduce to bear anatomy.

Would be nice also to plant some apple and plum trees protected by wire. Unsure if range of wild plants goes high up the Russian coast. Anyway, planting these is recommended by bear experts from C Europe to reduce bear/farming conflict.
 
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