Here’s a question of debate: Are polar bears being phased out of U.S. zoos? I’ve noticed that less zoos are exhibiting them and I was wondering if my guess is correct.
I think its more along the lines of very difficult to obtain them. In some ways it doesn't make sense. If climate change is affecting their ability to eat, then it would seem removing selected members would make little difference. thats actually a matter of a larger debate. It really should be much much much easier for accredited world zoos to obtain specimens from the wild. (controlled and monitored of course -perhaps by the governing bodies of zoo associations . Not like every zoo in the world should import kakapoos or such nonsense).
Another problem is that most polar bears in the U.S. are getting up there in age, and breeding has been fairly poor lately. I'm sure those zoos with breeding pairs are doing everything they can, and the switch around of bears for the last couple years will hopefully yield improved results. Detroit, despite losing its cub in 2018, is an example of this. @Daktari JG I agree - wasn't the Alaska Zoo renovation supposed to have more room to take in orphaned bears? I wonder what the status of that is?
The population crashed because in the 90's a bunch of zoos decided sterlization was a good idea to control the population. Now as they try to fix things the animals who can breed are too old. Getting wild bears is rare and when a cub is available it belongs to USFW who get to decide when and if it is allowed to breed. Because it's an endangered species polar bears cannot be imported from places like Canada. While our population has soared in the last decade from 6-8 to 24 (2-4 imports, 7 successful births and 10 orphans). Canada could easily refill the empty polar bear exhibits in the US with viable breeders in a few years if given the chance.
Status of Exotic Bears in U.S. Zoos This thread goes into the topic of polar bears in US zoos in greater depth.
I would say they're receiving the attention of a phase-in species, even if the results aren't bearing fruit yet; quite a few major bear habitats have been renovated in the last ten years to improve the standard of care for polar bears considerably, often adding more space in general, more solid land, often including more grass and less rockwork, as well as multiple exhibits to separate bears, and dens for breeding opportunities. I would note in both local opportunities, some other bear species were dropped to focus on improving care for polar bears. The real question is whether or not the AZA will see a return on this investment; it's a far bigger risk than they usually take these days, as they haven't discussed phasing in anything else that would fit these exhibits. (They prefer sloth and andean bears, which require forest habitats.)
