American black bears in captivity require extensive foraging enrichment, seasonal management that respects their hibernation physiology and large, complex enclosures to support their wide-ranging natural behavior.
Black bear welfare in captivity is significantly shaped by their strong seasonal behavioral drives. In autumn, bears enter hyperphagia — consuming enormous quantities of food to build winter fat reserves — and then enter torpor in winter. Captive environments that do not accommodate these physiological cycles through dietary changes, denning opportunities and temperature management create chronic metabolic and behavioral stress. Black bears are among the most food-motivated of zoo species, making foraging enrichment both essential and highly achievable — complex scatter feeding, puzzle devices, buried food and scent trails all engage their natural investigative behavior productively. Their intelligence means barren environments produce problem behaviors rapidly; enriched environments reveal their remarkable cognitive abilities.