Bears are intelligent, wide-ranging omnivores that are highly susceptible to stereotypic behaviour in captivity. Enrichment programmes that engage their natural foraging and exploratory drives are essential for good welfare.
Bear welfare in captivity has improved dramatically over the past two decades as understanding of their cognitive complexity has grown. Stereotypic pacing — a reliable indicator of insufficient environmental complexity — is now recognised as preventable rather than inevitable. High-welfare bear facilities provide large, varied enclosures with multiple substrate types, water features for bathing and fishing enrichment, buried and scattered food requiring active foraging, natural browse, and seasonal variation in management that acknowledges bears' natural activity cycles. For species with hibernation tendencies, providing cool, dark denning opportunities during winter months reduces the stress of being maintained in active condition year-round.