Polar bear welfare in captivity is challenged by their cold-adapted physiology and complex behavioral needs, while climate change makes their wild conservation increasingly urgent.
Polar bear captive welfare is particularly challenging because their physiological and behavioral adaptations are for an Arctic environment that no zoo can fully replicate. Stereotypic pacing — the repeated, invariant movement that signals chronic welfare failure — is well documented in polar bears housed in small, barren environments. Modern zoo habitats with large swim areas, varied terrain, ice features, and complex foraging opportunities dramatically reduce stereotypic behavior and increase behavioral diversity. The conservation rationale for polar bear captive populations is increasingly scrutinized as climate change makes wild recovery uncertain. Zoos that invest heavily in polar bear welfare infrastructure must weigh these costs against conservation impact, raising difficult questions about the future role of polar bears in zoo collections.