STATUS OF BEAR WELFARE

Status of Bear Welfare in Cherokee, North Carolina
BEHAVIORAL STRESS
All bears at the Cherokee zoos were displaying classic stereotypic behavior, specifically pacing
and head-weaving. These rote, meaningless, repetitive movements are typically expressed by
bears who are kept in undersized, sensory-deprived conditions. Stereotypies often indicate an
abnormal interaction between the bear and his or her surroundings and can be indicative of
diminished welfare.
Most of the bears were also actively engaged in begging behaviors, triggered when the visitors
above threw food down to them. When visitors were present, the bears were standing on their
hind legs, waving their paws, spinning, rolling on their backs, and/or snapping their mouths, but
when the visitors moved on, the bears changed to seriously entrenched pacing and headweaving,
with the exception of two of the Asiatic black bears who became inactive and lethargic
and appeared depressed. For the entire duration that these bears were in their outside exhibits,
they were exhibiting aberrant behaviors. The begging behavior is a complete bastardization of a
bear’s normal food-gathering behavior and is a testament to the extreme lengths to which these
bears have to go in order to cope on a daily basis in this substandard environment. When animals
are not allowed to express their normal behavior because they live in an environment that is so
alien to their genetic expectations, they are constantly forced to compromise, and the stress of
doing so is extreme.
Throughout the pits, numerous wear patterns were observed on the walls, indicating prolonged
pacing along the perimeters of the pits as well as reaching up the walls in certain locations. The
wear patterns were obvious and extensive.
There was a stark contrast between the abnormal behavior of the cubs at CSBP and those at SL.
The cubs at CSBP were frantic and constantly on the move, either pacing along the back wall and
then throwing their head when they reached the corners, bawling at the crowd above while
standing up and hanging onto the suspended tires, or climbing onto and hanging off the metal
door. At the other end of the spectrum, the cubs at SL were abnormally subdued. They did not
exude the high energy level, curiosity about their environment, or desire to play with their
handlers or each other that cubs normally exhibit. In our professional opinion, the cubs at SL
appear to have been negatively reinforced by the handlers, which could include physical
punishment, in order to suppress normal play behavior during the public feeding demonstrations.
Preventing appetitive behavior patterns in animals can give rise to stress and frustration and
impair the development of brain regions that are involved in behavioral sequencing, thereby
reducing the animals’ ability to behave flexibly and appropriately. 6 Because of the lack of
appropriate natural sensory and mental stimuli, restriction of purposeful movement, boredom,
lack of exercise, and loss of freedom of choice and control over their environment, animals in
captivity often divert their energies and anxiety into abnormal behavior.
The mammalian brain functions similarly whether it is in a human, a mouse, or a bear. Research
indicates that sensory-deprived humans, such as prisoners in “Supermax” prison facilities—living
in concrete cells, doing and eating the same things every day at exactly the same time—also
develop serious aberrant behaviors similar to those of bears in pit enclosures. 7
AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORT OF CHIEF SAUNOOKE BEAR PARK, CHEROKEE BEAR ZOO, AND SANTA’S LAND | 24