Feeding enrichment and stereotypic behavior in spectacled bears

✍ Scribed by Mark Fischbacher; Hans Schmid

• Book ID: 101269058
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 90 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0733-3188
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2361(1999)18:5<363::aid-zoo1>3.0.co;2-h

✦ Synopsis

The effect of feeding enrichment on the behavior of three spectacled bears (Tremarctos ornatus) was investigated in a large, complex zoo exhibit. Feeding enrichment significantly extended the time bears spent foraging, but no delayed effect on other behaviors was found. The frequency of stereotypic behaviors performed by an old female and a young adult male was not influenced outside the morning feeding period. As yet, a young adult female has not developed stereotypic behaviors. In the old female, the frequency of stereotypic behavior was inversely correlated with the frequency of resting. In the male, the frequency of stereotypic behavior was inversely correlated with the frequency of social interactions with either female.