Plight of bears reopens debate

Press, 3 April 1989, Page 30

Plight of bears reopens debate

By JULIE FITZGERALD NZPA London

The plight of two ageing polar bears showing signs of madness in Bristol Zoo has reopened a debate on the future of zoos in Britain.

The two bears, Nina, aged 30, and Misha, aged more than 20, have been kept in a 340 sq m concrete enclosure with a small pool at the zoo for years, and are now showing the effects of such confinement.

Nina spends her day asleep in a corner of the enclosure, while Misha paces backwards and forwards over the same piece of ground for long periods.

Bristol Zoo’s management said it would allow Nina to die of old age and Misha would then be put down. The animals will not be replaced. They cannot be released into the wild as they would not survive after so long in captivity. Independent Government inspectors have criticised the bearpit as being too cramped, and Mr William Travers, the director of zoos’ watchdog body, Zoo Check, confirmed that the enclosure

was inadequate. Not only was the pit too small, but it backed onto a busy street and was near a bus terminal and sports centre.

“Misha is often taken away from view because he is disturbing to the public, and they are a disturbance to him,” Mr Travers said.

The publicity given to Misha’s and Nina’s living conditions has caused wide debate on the role of zoos.

According to Zoo Check, a report conducted on captive polar bears in Britain, and Irish zoos found that 12 out of 20 animals kept at the time suffered abnormal behaviour patterns and that 60 to 70 per cent of cubs did not survive more than a year.

The report concluded that the wild polar bear population had increased substantially since the introduction of commercial hunting bans, and that television wildlife films, showing wild animals in their natural habitats, were a far more effective form of education than displaying “impoverished” and neurotic exhibits to the {yjblic in British zoos.