Studies have shown that polar bears are poor candidates for captivity. The situation seems particularly bleak for Inuka and Sheba, the polar bears at Singapore Zoo. The fact that Singapore's tropical climate is totally unsuitable for polar bears and that they live in a small, barren, open-air enclosure means that Inuka and Sheba are subjected to living in a stressful environment. Inuka and Sheba have been seen to display behavioural (abnormal behaviours, including stereotypies) and physical (loss of lean muscle mass and fur) signs of distress, as well as signs of heat stress. See a video clip of Inuka pacing (abnormal stereotypic behaviour) at the Singapore Zoo here.
Since 2004, ACRES has been in discussions with the Singapore Zoo to improve the welfare of Inuka and Sheba. In late 2005, ACRES conducted a behavioural study of the polar bears to scientifically assess their welfare. Download our scientific report here.
ACRES has repeatedly called for the Singapore Zoo not only to make drastic improvements to the living conditions for Inuka and Sheba, but also to phase out the keeping of polar bears and other Arctic animals on welfare grounds.
ACRES met up with the Singapore Zoo in June 2006 to present the results of our scientific study.
We are pleased that the Singapore Zoo has decided not to import any Arctic animals in the future. See news article here.
Please write to the Singapore Zoo and thank them for making this progressive step: mailto:info@zoo.com.sg
ACRES urges the Singapore Zoo to drastically improve the living conditions for Inuka and Sheba and eliminate the abnormal stereotypic behaviours being displayed by the bears, which indicate that they are living in a stressful environment.
Why should polar bears not be kept in the tropics?
Polar bears inhabit cold and hostile environments. They are superbly adapted to sea ice conditions, having a thick fur coat and fat layer to protect them from the harsh weather conditions. Polar bears are built to maintain their body heat; their problem is cooling off, not staying warm. Their short ears and tail are another adaptation to cold, being small and fur covered to prevent heat loss. They have two layers of fur which serves as an additional means of protection against the cold. The hollow, oily guard hairs provide heat preservation while on land. The fact that these guard hairs are hollow allows them to work as efficient solar collectors. The long, clear guard hairs direct ultraviolet radiation towards the skin, which is black (a colour ideal for absorbing radiant heat), to soak up the energy of the sun more efficiently. The guard hairs change 95% of the sun's rays to heat.
These adaptations can cause polar bears to easily overheat, even in sub-zero conditions. Any temperature above freezing is warm to a polar bear; at 21.1°C polar bears can become severely heat-stressed.
Can polar bears become acclimatised to hot climates?
Polar bears cannot simply acclimatise to life in hot climates. Even if a polar bear is born in a warm climate and lives there all of his/her life, he/she will still possess several physiological adaptations to life in the Arctic (as described above).
Even if he/she loses some fur and blubber, he/she will always have black skin that absorbs heat very effectively and hollow hairs which work as efficient solar collectors.
Polar bears do not have any physical or morphological means of staying cool; they rely on behavior to do that. In the wild polar bears will dig deep day beds in the soil until they reach the permafrost and rest in these to cool down. These day beds are often shaded by long grasses and hummocky terrain. They may also take mud and dust baths to cool down. Wild polar bears may jump into the cold Arctic Ocean to cool off if overheating. Wild polar bears will also balance energy expenditure and food intake to regulate their body temperature and may choose to adopt a vegetarian diet or fast during warmer times (eating meat and fat generates immediate heat energy).
However, none of these methods of cooling down are available to the polar bears at Singapore Zoo; they cannot dig cool day beds, jump into ice cold waters (the pool water is not chilled), take mud or dust baths, nor choose the food they eat.
Doesn't the fact that captive polar bears sometimes live a long time mean that the living conditions must be good?
Animals (including humans) can survive for many years in wholly substandard living conditions. This does not mean that they experience good welfare or have a good quality of life. Bears are known to be particularly resilient animals, surviving in even the most appalling circumstances.
For example, bears on bear farms who are cruelly farmed for their bile, kept in tiny cages and repeatedly stabbed into their gall bladders, can live over 20 years! Nobody can argue that the conditions endured by bears on bear farms are anything but horrific, yet many bears survive them for many years.
What is wrong with the polar bear enclosure at Singapore Zoo?
The enclosure is far too small to allow for the expression of a full range of species-typical behaviours and movements.
The enclosure provides only approximately 0.0000005% of a polar bear's natural home range!
- The fact that the enclosure is open-air poses a clear problem since polar bears are adapted to cold conditions and Singapore is a tropical country. The water in the pool provided for the bears is also not cooled sufficiently.
- The hard substrate in the enclosure fails to provide any opportunity for species-specific behaviours such as digging or foraging. Constant contact with this hard substrate may also lead to abrasions and sores on the animal's feet, or footpad ulcerations observed in animals exhibiting stereotypic pacing on concrete surfaces. The polar bears at Singapore Zoo have indeed been seen to pace stereotypically for substantial periods of time.
- The enclosure is relatively barren and lacks complexity.
- There are no soft substrates provided for the bears to make day beds to rest in or dry their fur on.
- The enclosure does not provide any private areas where the bears can retreat from public view or the view of each other.
Isn't there an air-conditioned area for the polar bears at Singapore Zoo?
Whilst an indoor air-conditioned area is provided, this area is reported to be extremely small, barren and dark, and not big enough for the bears to rest in comfortably. Therefore, although the bears can choose to enter the air-conditioned area during the day, this means being cramped in a small, uncomfortable, enclosed place. A polar bear expert who has seen the off-exhibit air-conditioned areas has even commented that “The back areas have no redeeming qualities for polar bears. Nothing living should be housed in those cages.”
How do you know the polar bears are not doing well at Singapore Zoo?
In late 2005, ACRES conducted a behavioural study of the polar bears to scientifically assess their welfare. Key findings of the four month scientific study were:
Both bears exhibited signs of severe heat stress
The bears were both seen to be panting for long periods of time (36% of the time for Inuka; 38.7% of the time for Sheba), indicating that they are far too hot. The bears were also seen to be exhibiting other behaviours indicating that they were
suffering from heat stress.
Both polar bears displayed high levels of inactivity
(43% of the time for Inuka; 65% of the time for Sheba).
This is recognized as a clear indication of an abnormal animal-environment interaction, almost certainly caused by a sub-optimal environment that does not satisfy the natural, species-specific behavioural needs of the bears.
Both bears engaged in high levels of abnormal stereotypic behaviour (65% of active periods for Inuka; 57% of active periods for Sheba)
The bears were at times observed to be constantly pacing or swimming in a stereotypic fashion. The occurrence of stereotypic behaviour is widely recognized as a clear indication of an abnormal animal-environment interaction and a sign of psychological disorder in captive animals.
The bears also displayed some physical signs of distress, including severe fur loss, which can be a sign of stress, and loss of lean body mass (muscle), indicating inadequate opportunities for movement and exercise.
Why do polar bears in particular suffer in captivity?
Polar bears are extremely wide-ranging, highly intelligent, cold weather carnivores, so they are extremely problematic to house and care for in captivity. In the wild, polar bears have a large range and can travel 80 kilometres or more in one day. They may undertake extensive annual migrations on the sea ice yielding annual range sizes of 250,000 square kilometres. In a 2003 report, researchers from Oxford University concluded that polar bears are one of the species most affected by captivity.
The bears are prone to problems that include poor health and repetitive stereotypic behaviours. These problems were suggested to stem from constraints imposed on the natural behaviour of susceptible animals with wide-ranging lifestyles in the wild. The report revealed that naturally wide-ranging species show the most evidence of stress and/or psychological dysfunction in captivity.The authors of the report stated: “our findings indicate that the keeping of naturally wide-ranging carnivores should either be fundamentally improved or phased out”.
Does the Singapore Zoo polar bear enclosure meet international standards?
The Province of Manitoba, Canada, which is the province that is the primary source of orphan polar bears, has a specific legislative and policy framework in place for the protection of polar bears. Recognising polar bears as a species with special requirements, a set of specific requirements in relation to the keeping of polar bears in captivity was included in The Polar Bear Protection Act, which was made law by the Government of Manitoba, Canada in 2003. These guidelines outline the minimum standards of care and husbandry that must be followed by those institutions housing polar bears. These strict guidelines must also be met by any zoos wishing to acquire a polar bear from Manitoba.The polar bear enclosure and husbandry procedures at Singapore Zoo do not meet the minimum requirements stated in the Polar Bear Protection Act, meaning that if Singapore Zoo wanted to import polar bears from Manitoba to house in their current polar bear enclosure, by law they would not be able to do so.Singapore Zoo also fails to follow many of the recommendations in relation to enclosure size and design and husbandry standards for polar bears that are stated in guidelines on polar bear husbandry written by various zoological associations and animal welfare organisations.
What about the educational value of keeping polar bears in zoos?
Keeping animals in conditions which are so far removed from their natural living conditions, as with polar bears, means that they cannot display any of their true natural behaviours. Therefore, seeing animals such as polar bears in captivity we learn little, if anything, about their lifestyle in the wild.At some zoos, polar bears are even encouraged to perform totally inappropriate unnatural tricks , for instance at the Singapore Zoo the polar bears have previously been documented being made to perform unnatural behaviours in the token feeding shows such as ‘waving', ‘belly dancing' and ringing a bell. Such unnatural displays give the public a very misleading impression of wild polar bear behaviour.
Don't other zoos keep polar bears?
Many progressive zoos in countries including the UK, Germany and Switzerland have phased out the keeping of polar bears in captivity, recognizing that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to provide for their needs in a captive setting.
What recommendations has ACRES made to the Singapore Zoo to improve the welfare of the polar bears?
In 2006, ACRES made the following recommendations to improve the welfare of the polar bears: - Provide an area where the bears can construct day beds.
- Provide soft substrates.
- Lower the temperature in the enclosure.
- Chill the pool water to a lower temperature.
- Provide more furniture.
- Provide more enrichment to prolong foraging, feeding & encourage exploratory behaviour.
- Start an ongoing and varied enrichment programme.
- Remove all unnatural behaviours from the token feeding show.
We also made the recommendation that Singapore Zoo to never again acquire polar bears or other Arctic animals on welfare grounds.
