Habituation to environmental enrichment in captive sloth bears-effect on stereotypies
The benefits to captive animals of environmental enrichment (EE) are widely recognized. Few studies have, however, studied how to maximise the effect of EE. One issue with EE programs seems to be habituation to the enrichment device. To study the effect of habituation to EE, 14 captive sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) were subjected to two […]
Causes of mortality in sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) housed in U.S. zoos
A retrospective mortality review was performed of necropsy records from 1905-2015 to determine the mortality trends present for the captive U.S. sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ) population. Records were obtained for 68 bears from 17 institutions. Neonates had an average age at death of 7 days (median 0 days). Neonatal mortality accounted for a […]