Advanced enrichment for zoo bears targets the cognitive complexity and extended foraging behaviors that define bear welfare in both captive and wild contexts.
Bear enrichment welfare has advanced dramatically as bear cognitive complexity has become better understood. Early enrichment approaches that provided food rewards without requiring meaningful problem-solving produced limited welfare improvements. Contemporary bear enrichment programs that embed food in complex environments — buried, hidden inside structures, suspended — produce sustained foraging behavior that occupies bears for periods comparable to wild foraging duration. The correlation between stereotypy reduction and enrichment complexity is one of the most robust findings in zoo welfare research.