Study: Animals used to roaming fare badly at zoos
The findings could change the way zoos house certain species.

By Faye Flam
Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Thu, Oct. 02, 2003

Wild animals accustomed to lots of room to roam don't do well
confined in zoos, according to a new study in the journal Nature.
Certain species, such as lions and polar bears, suffer physical and
mental stress and high infant mortality in captivity.
The study could influence the way zoos house animals or even
whether they keep some species at all.
Many zoologists have observed abnormal behavior in wide-ranging
carnivores confined in zoos, said David Shepherdson, a researcher at
the Oregon Zoo who is examining the origins of such behavior among
polar bears at a number of U.S. zoos, including Philadelphia's.
He said the Nature study, by British biologist Georgia Mason, who
studies animal behavior at Oxford University "is the first to
quantify" such abnormal behavior. Other researchers said they had
concerns about Mason's methods and conclusions and worried that she
was lumping good zoos with bad.
Animal-welfare activists criticized zoos for keeping animals for
human entertainment. They said that although zoos provide better
homes for most animals than circuses or roadside exhibits, their
primary interest is not animal welfare.
"Zoos aren't there to help the species, they're there to make a
buck," said David DeWitt, a spokesman for the Animal Protection
Institute. While some zoos, including Philadelphia's, breed animals
that would otherwise go extinct, most of the animals are there for
other reasons.
Mason said she started out investigating a well-known phenomenon in
which certain zoo animals pace back and forth or exhibit other
repetitive behavior, such as nodding, swaying the body, or rocking.
There is a general assumption that such "stereotypical" behavior
is a sign that something's wrong, said Shepherdson. The thinking was
that it had to do with the animals' need for stimulation; creatures
used to hunting needed some challenge in their environment. "The idea
was that cage size didn't matter as long as the animals had something
to do," Mason said.
"We were completely wrong."
For her study, she and Oxford colleague Ros Clubb examined data on
the hunting behavior, territory range and daily distance traveled for
dozens of animals, then studied data from zoos around the world on
infant mortality and repetitive behaviors. "We used over 100 good
quality studies, and that gave us data on 324 stereotyping animals,
spread across 42 zoos and 35 species," she said.
She concluded that animals that hunt for a living did no worse than
animals that scavenged. Instead, she said, it was the animals with the
widest-ranging territories and greatest distance traveled per day in
the wild that showed the most extreme pacing behavior and worst infant
mortality rates.
"Zoos need to think much more about giving these animals features
of a large range - e.g., bigger enclosures, longer boundaries for
patrolling, views that offer variety, more dens and sleeping places,
and simply more day-to-day variety," Mason wrote in an e-mail message.
Barring that, she said, zoos could stop housing wide-ranging
carnivores altogether.
Mason said she is not against zoos. She said they provide an
educational opportunity for children that would be difficult to get
otherwise, but that doesn't mean all animals are equally equipped to
deal with captivity.
The study still does not explain why captive animals show this
behavior, said Oregon's Shepherdson. It may not be space per se that
the animals miss but the mental stimulation of a varied
environment. "Some animals spend a lot of time exploring their
environment - searching for new things," he said.
"I found the article exciting; it's great to see real science
applied to animals' welfare," said Andy Baker, senior vice president
for animal programs at the Philadelphia Zoo. He said the local zoo is
moving in the right direction with a redesign of its big-cat exhibit,
which will feature lions, tigers and several other carnivores.
"What we're trying to do is set it up so that on any given day the
tiger might be in the lion's exhibit - we'll have time-share across
the entire facility," so that each cat gets to be in the whole
facility for a week or a month.
He said the zoo has two female polar bears, both in their 20s, who
show little, if any, pacing or other repetitive behavior. They have a
20,000-square foot enclosure with a 300,000-gallon pool, he said.
Michael Hutchins, director of conservation for the American Zoo and
Aquarium Association, said he had some concerns about Mason's study.
Zoos vary widely in how well they care for animals, he said. He said
zoos in his organization have recognized repetitive behavior as a
problem and have made great strides in improving the welfare of
animals.
He said zoos are changing the ways animals are housed, how they
are fed, and how they interact with humans in order to better provide
for their welfare.
Oregon's Shepherdson agrees that conditions are steadily improving
for zoo animals.
"Zoo exhibits built now are totally different from the way they
were built 30 years ago... . There's a new appreciation for the rich
psychological complexity that animals have in their lives."
But critics said the zoos' efforts fall far short, and the animals
would be better off in the wild.
Some zoos will sell animals that are no longer attracting crowds,
said DeWitt of the Animal Protection Institute, and they can end up in
circuses, in roadside zoos, or as part of an underground exotic pet
trade.
"These are inherently wild animals," said Nicole Paquette, general
counsel for the institute. "A lion shouldn't be someone's pet and
shouldn't be in a cage. He should be roaming the plains of where he's
normally from."
_____
Contact staff writer Faye Flam at 215-854-4977 or fflam@phillynews.com

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