Brown bears are large-brained, wide-ranging omnivores whose welfare needs in captivity require extensive space, environmental complexity, and opportunities for foraging and denning behaviour.
Brown bears are among the most demanding species to keep well in captivity. Their wide-ranging nature, complex foraging behaviour, and high cognitive capacity mean that inadequate environments cause profound psychological harm, manifesting as stereotypies that are visible indicators of welfare failure. Modern best-practice exhibits have transformed brown bear keeping — large naturalistic enclosures with complex substrates, water bodies, foraging challenges, and appropriate seasonal management including denning opportunities. Legacy facilities with small concrete enclosures remain a welfare crisis in many parts of the world. Visitors who can distinguish an active, foraging bear from a stereotyping, pacing one are equipped to make welfare-informed choices about which zoos to support.