Copenhagen Zoo's enclosure is bad too, but we are part of the new polar exhibit wave. It will be the next big project after the elephant house.
Well, let's face it, polar bears are enormously attractive to the public. (In fact I think I will open a "White Zoo" - white lions, white tigers, polar bears etc. Seriously though, the key to successful raising of young bears is probably extreme isolation of the female; peace and quiet give security. In the past too many zoos just didn't have the facilities to achieve that. (A mother bear is not going to be relaxed with a male clawing at the door between them.)
Will there ever be a truly awe-inspiring polar bear exhibit? Maybe not for another couple of decades. The San Diego Zoo has a decent enclosure for its bears, but they have to rotate and that means that one pair has cramped quarters for at least half of their lives. With the hot weather and lack of real snow...is that particular exhibit really all that successful? With the plethora of mock-rock, concrete, glass, steel, etc that will be constructed in the very near future strictly for polar bears, then will the stereotypical behaviour that is evident in almost all captive bears still be seen by visitors? I have my fingers crossed that Canada's Calgary Zoo will have an awesome bear enclosure once it finishes its $135 million Arctic/Antarctic exhibit in the next couple of years. With the winter in Calgary averaging at least 5 months of snow each and every year, then surely this northern zoo should be well equipped to showcase the world's largest bear. A den for cubs is hopefully at the top of the list for this zoo.
These are zoolex's offerings: Exhibit Exhibit Exhibit They say they can hold 5,6 and 5 bears respectively...
I saw Amsterdam's a few years ago and yes, it was pretty poor. I think zoos building new exhibits for Polar Bears will still have their work cut out to maintain normal behaviour in their bears- obviously any bears which have aquired stereotyped behaviour already will probably still show at least some signs of it in any enclosure, however beautifully designed. Can they eradicate this problem in the forthcoming generations I wonder?
not if they keep having all these issues in raising the next generation, but maybe upgraded exhibits would lead ot higher infant survival?
No doubt a well design modern enclosure would be better than an old... Surely cubbing dens would help with infant mortality figures...
The Polar Bear exhibit in Nuremberg is quite new-yet the current situation shows that it's not perfect. As more and more info is spread about the female cub now nursed, rumor has it that at least in some parts the current situation is a result of enormous, wrongly-controlled media pressure, with a certain hidden agenda by the media to create a new "Knut"-hype (one of the headlines the following day: "We have a new Knut"; "Polar Bear" diary on German TV etc); there have been reports of camera teams illegally going way too close to the exhibits and thus disturbing both females. Maybe the Nuremberg Zoo should have acted like the zoos of Brno and Vienna and kept the news way low down. Maybe it's a good idea (like the Seattle zoo did in the case of newborn gorillas) for zoos to follow the song title by Overstreet & Schlitz: "(You say it best,) When You say nothing at all". About the "perfect" Polar Bear exhibit: when it comes to good exhibit design, San Diego is usually not the first place to go to. Like I mentioned in another thread: building an exhibit well suited for the Polar Bears isn't that expensive or difficult-but making it also and especially suited for visitors-that's another thing. Unfortunately, animals with stereotypic behaviour problems, especially bears, keep this up even after the improvement of the husbandry. Sometimes, the adequate and controlled use of antipsychotic drugs can be helpful in some cases (see wolves & National zoo and Turkish Bear project).
Polar Bear Hysteria 1. There's something about baby Polar Bears that seems to whip up media hysteria and therefore a frenzy of public interest in a way no other species can do. In the UK, London Zoo experienced enormous media exposure and subsequent visitor levels as far back as the 1950's with their baby Polar Bear 'Brumas.' For weeks, crowds were queuing in long lines, even outside the zoo, in order for a glimpse of the cub on display with its mother 'Ivy' on the Mappin Terraces. Subsequent cubs at London e.g Pipaluk received similar interest though not on the level of Brumas. Even a provincial zoo like Bristol achieved a big surge of sudden visitor interest over the birth of their first cub 'Sebastian' with queues again lining the road outside the zoo. (This hasn't occurred for any other birth at the zoo.) Such 'frenzies' are virtually unheard of for any other species in zoos- even Giant Pandas don't seem to elicit quite this level of interest. 2. Yes, that's my point- once stereotyped behaviour is acquired the animals rarely lose it completely, even in much improved surroundings. So swaying, pacing or rocking behaviour in bears(or elephants or whatever) will usually carry on, at some level, even after a move to better enclosures or husbandry conditions.
Similar hysteria happen at Auckland Zoo in the 60's with their cub 'Piwi'... However the three months Giant Panda were on exhibit in Auckland drew 300,000 visitors... In the almost 70+ years Auckland had Polar Bears only 1 cub survived to adulthood and only 1 or 2 died "naturaly" of old age...
Sorry Pertinax to contradict-but I have experienced both Giant Panda & Polar Bear "hysteria" respectively-it's pretty much the same, with the Panda hype in my opinion being even bigger. Vienna has both at the moment, but seems to cope with that so far.
Aaahhhh...giant panda hype. The Adelaide Zoo in Australia is busy prepping for its arrivals in 2009, and savouring the fact that they will be the solitary zoo in the southern hemisphere with pandas. They are already cranking up the publicity machine.
Would it be far to say though that zoo's with Giant Pandas whip up the hype while the media seems to do it all its own with regards to Polar Bears..? Not being in Europe but from people's posts here that is the impression that I get...
It depends on the individual zoo and circumstances, not on Panda or Polar Bears. Nuremberg Zoo just had very bad luck this time, especially due to a German media eager to find a "Knut"-replacement. Other European zoos like Brno with recent Polar Bear offspring actually didn't have this problem, and Vienna was preparing wisely ahead and has the Giant Panda cub and soon the Koala offspring "in hand" to channel part of the media interest away from the Polar Bear cubs. Actually, I should really visit Vienna soon-I have never been to a zoo with such a concentration of media-interesting animal offspring during one short time span... Now all they need now is the elephants, rhinos, hippos and big cats giving birth, and the zoo is going to be overrun by the cute & cuddly fans...
Oh yes- the Panda 'hype' is always bigger, but as NZ Jeremy said, somehow the Polar Bear cubs seem to generate their own special brand of hysteria. I remember the much publicised arrival of the Giant Panda 'Chi Chi' at London but somehow I still don't think it reached the same level as the Polar Bear 'Brumas'- nothing else has attracted crowds at London zoo on that scale- either before or since. Mind you, London have never bred a Panda cub...
About media hysteria - it is entirely build up by ad campaigns. Berlin zoo has resident giant panda (before had two) and it caused little excitement. I used to go there many times and people did not congregate. Tip - if your zoo wishes to get huge media coverage, it needs no pandas or polar bear cubs, more "typical" animal like brown bear or gorilla can do, too, if presented well. About bear enclosure: WAZA website says impotant is to keep polar bears singly or in pairs. Not bigger groups. I am no expert, but I observed that polar bears tend to avoid each other. Some animals sit at the end of exhibit, others "weave" on the edge, others go around keeping away from anothers. I also observed that animals pace usually when they want to go somewhere they cannot. Example is bear pacing in front of closed doors before feeding in night den. So important is to give animals access to all their living area 24 hours 365 days except short cleaning time. if its too hot/cold they will themselves wish to stay inside. Perhaps shift enclosures may provoke pacing this way. Recently zoos build grassy exhibits and it's the way to go. I suggest ideal polar bear enclosure is big, grassy, with some trees or rocks for shade and big pool. It might better resemble brown bear enclosure than Arctic if alternative is empty space. Actualy, such place is not expensive to build if you have space - only cost is fence and pool.
Yeah, look at London's attendance figures since Gorilla Kingdom opened and that is where most of the crowd is during the day.
Yes, you are right. Many times at London Zoo the adult Pandas could be seen easily with no-one showing much interest. It is the newly arrived playful young Panda that attracts the crowds. With ChiChi, she suddenly appeared as if from nowhere in Europe with the animal dealer Heini Demmer, and the press got hold of the fact he was offering to sell her to the zoo- which he finally did. Once on show, ChiChi had special organised 'playtimes' when she would chase and interact with the keeper etc, which the crowds just loved. But later as an adult she became morose and inactive- no-one bothered to see her then... It seems the animal has to do something 'different' to attract media attention and crowds- the best example is probably to escape and be safely recaptured. See how the crowds visited Gorilla 'Bokito' at Rotterdam after he escaped and attacked the lady 'gorilla fan' (and that 'relationship' was part of the story too..) Regarding London's Polar Bear cub 'Brumas'- they had record attendance figures in 1950- the year she was on display as a cub- which have never been equalled since.
