What’s a Polar Bear Doing in the Tropics?

[Aris]

Poor Polar Bear In Singapore Zoo (In This Hot Weather Now)


Studies have shown that polar bears are poor candidates for captivity. The situation seemed particularly bleak for Inuka and Sheba, the polar bears at Singapore Zoo, who up until 2010 were housed in a totally unsuitable, outdated enclosure. The fact that Singapore's tropical climate is totally unsuitable for polar bears and that they lived in a small, barren, open-air enclosure meant that Inuka and Sheba were subjected to living in a highly stressful environment. Inuka and Sheba were seen to display abnormal, stereotypic behaviours and apparent physical signs of stress (loss of lean muscle mass and fur), as well as signs of heat stress.

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.

Over the years, ACRES 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 were pleased that the Singapore Zoo announced that it had decided not to import any Arctic animals in the future. See news article here.

In August 2010, the Singapore Zoo announced that it will be building a new enclosure for the polar bears. We are pleased that the new enclosure will include many of the features recommended by ACRES that will improve the welfare of the bears to some degree, such as natural substrates, and will also be climate-controlled, meaning that the bears will no longer endure living in Singapore’s tropical heat.

However, we still feel that polar bears do not belong in the topics and that it would be in Inuka’s best interests to be sent to live in a large, naturalistic enclosure at a reputable zoo or sanctuary located in a suitable climate.

Also, although the bears will undoubtedly be much more comfortable in their new air-conditioned surroundings, we do have concerns regarding the very high electricity consumption that continuously air-conditioning their new enclosure will require, which will contribute to global warming and therefore the depletion of the wild habitat of polar bears. We hope that the Singapore Zoo stays true to their previous statement that they will not be importing any more Arctic animals after Sheba and Inuka pass away.






I hope the zoo authorities will do it's best for the animal and not because of $$$!

[hkh]

Wow.....our Polar Bear turned Green.........

[Ben]

you mean all along the bears were in an open air enclosure and not an air conditioned one? oh man, even i, born and bred here, cannot tahan the heat, i can't imagine how the bears feel

[xersion]

U guys how long nv go zoo?

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

[azon]

our zoo polar bear is under going mutation.. turning green..

[Clamence]

Haha yeah i remember they only have fan which also spray a fine mist of water but they have a room where they can go to rest which is fully air conditioned

___________________________
Aquarist.

[noobmiyavi]

hey guys... I thought now polar bear got new enclosure in the zoo? I've not seen it before though.

[hkh]

Originally Posted by noobmiyavi

hey guys... I thought now polar bear got new enclosure in the zoo? I've not seen it before though.

The enclosure they newly built is for the Giant Pandas.......

[noobmiyavi]

Originally Posted by hkh

The enclosure they newly built is for the Giant Pandas.......

I kana trick sia. Frozen tundra somemore leh, but in fact doesnt look frozen in the pics -.-''

http://www.zoo.com.sg/exhibits-zones...ml#ad-image-11

[TuNA]

Panda life better than the polar bear.