Polar bears in zoos present some of the greatest welfare challenges in modern zoology due to their extreme range requirements.
Polar bear welfare in captivity is extremely difficult to achieve. These are wide-ranging, cognitively complex animals whose natural behavior involves traveling enormous distances across sea ice. Captive environments, however enriched, cannot approximate the movement requirements that define polar bear behavioral biology. The stereotypic pacing common in captive polar bears is strong evidence of chronic welfare compromise. Some institutions have made the difficult but welfare-positive decision to phase out polar bear exhibits.