‘Bearly’ Changing with the Seasons: Bears of Five Species Show Few Behavioral Changes Across Seasons and at Varying Visitor Densities
In natural environments, bear behavior follows seasonal patterns but the zoo environment differs from the natural environment in several ways, including the presence of zoo visitors. Although typically difficult to disentangle, we were able to tease apart the effects of seasonal changes and visitor density on the visibility and behavior of 10 bears representing five […]
Variables affecting the manifestation of and intensity of pacing behavior: A preliminary case study in zoo-housed polar bears
High-speed video analysis was used to quantify two aspects of gait in 10 zoo-housed polar bears. These two variables were then examined as to how they differed in the conditions of pacing versus locomoting for each bear. Percent difference calculations measured the difference between pacing and locomoting data for each bear. We inferred that the […]