Polar bears in zoos face profound welfare challenges from their extreme space requirements, and wild polar bear welfare is increasingly threatened by Arctic climate change.
Polar bears represent one of the most difficult welfare cases in captive animal management. Their spatial requirements — evolved for navigation across hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of sea ice — are so extreme that no zoo exhibit can approach their natural range. Stereotypic pacing in polar bears develops early and persists despite enrichment, suggesting a deep mismatch between their neurological requirements and what captivity can provide. Simultaneously, wild polar bears face existential welfare threats from climate change: starvation, stress from failed hunts, and displacement from productive habitats are affecting wild populations now. Zoo programs serve a conservation purpose but must invest maximally in welfare given the profound limitations of captive environments for this species.