Welfare requirements for black bears in zoological settings, including space, enrichment, denning, and behavioral expression needs.
Black bear welfare in zoo settings requires addressing both the physical and cognitive dimensions of a species evolved for complex, wide-ranging foraging. The extreme reduction in space that zoo housing necessarily involves must be compensated through enrichment that engages bear cognitive abilities: food puzzles requiring problem-solving, diverse novel materials for manipulation and olfactory exploration, and substrates allowing natural behaviors like digging and log-rolling. Denning provision is not optional for welfare — bears show physiological preparation for denning regardless of whether denning facilities are provided, and denying this behavior causes measurable stress. Evaluation of zoo bear welfare should consider behavioral diversity (time spent in different activity types), absence of stereotypy, and behavioral indicators of positive states like play, exploration, and relaxed resting.