Grizzly bears are wide-ranging, intelligent omnivores that present significant welfare challenges in captivity. Meeting their complex needs requires exceptional resources and expertise.
Grizzly bear welfare in captivity is profoundly challenging due to the enormous mismatch between their natural home range needs and available enclosure sizes. Behavioral indicators of poor welfare including pacing, head weaving, and repetitive route walking are common in bears with inadequate environments. Large, naturalistic enclosures with streams, varied topography, pools, and extensive foraging enrichment address some needs. Hibernation opportunities, seasonal variation in management, and cognitive enrichment through complex feeding tasks significantly improve welfare. Many welfare scientists question whether zoo environments can adequately meet grizzly bear needs.