Brown bears in zoos, sanctuaries, and rehabilitation facilities have complex welfare needs. Their intelligence, natural ranging behaviour, and foraging drives require carefully designed captive environments.
Brown bear welfare in captivity requires addressing the vast gulf between natural behaviour and feasible captive conditions. The natural foraging range of a bear covers terrain no zoo can replicate, and the motivational drive to forage and explore generates chronic frustration in confined environments. Pacing stereotypies indicate this frustration and have been documented in bears across institutions worldwide. Sanctuaries providing larger areas with diverse terrain, water features, and opportunity for foraging and denning represent substantially better welfare than traditional zoo exhibits. Former dancing bears from tourist industries show lasting psychological damage including stereotypies and fear responses that persist for years in sanctuary conditions, highlighting the long-term welfare consequences of early life trauma.