Bears in zoos require extensive enrichment and complex environments to meet their cognitive and physical needs; outdated facilities continue to present significant welfare challenges.
Bear welfare in zoo settings represents one of the clearest examples of the tension between conservation value and individual animal welfare. Bears in naturalistic, enriched environments with space to roam, forage, and express normal behaviours show markedly better welfare outcomes than those in older concrete-pit style enclosures. The latter remain common in less well-resourced facilities globally. Stereotypic pacing, a reliable indicator of chronic welfare deprivation, is almost absent in well-designed modern exhibits and prevalent in outdated ones. The financial and logistical barriers to facility upgrade are real, but the welfare cost of maintaining inadequate bear housing is ongoing and severe. Transparent welfare reporting and visitor pressure for standards improvement are important drivers of change.