Welfare of Captive Polar Bears and Their Value to In Situ Conservation Efforts

Abstract

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have always been one of the most popular animals in zoos. Though their charismatic nature has made them a good flagship species for the Arctic habitat, there has been very little examination of the co-relationship or need for collaboration between the in situ and ex situ polar bear worlds. In the 1990s, polar bear populations in North American and European zoos were declining, and many zoos were closing their polar bear exhibits (Meyerson 2006; Linke 2015; Poirier and Lanthier 1995). Though still popular with the public, animal well-being concerns and increasing governmental regulations made it evident that in order to appropriately house and exhibit this large and intelligent species, significant financial resources would need to be invested. Given that the wild population numbers had rebounded as a result of the cooperative regulations enacted by the five Polar Bear Nations (i.e., the Range States: USA, Canada, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Norway and Denmark/Greenland) (United Nations Environment Program Register of International Treaties 1973), which addressed issues such as illegal harvest and environmental toxins, the conservation threat for the species was relatively low, and zoos were choosing to use their limited financial resources to build exhibits for species that had a greater conservation need.