Out of the Wilds

2005-Sept

Jennifer McPhee, UP HERE

Like elephants and tigers, polar bears and whales are crowd pleasers at zoos. While these hardy beasts thrive in their harsh Northern homeland, many can't cope when confined. Should these magnificent Arctic creatures dwell within walls?

In medieval times, Europeans dreamt up tall tales about unicorns after seeing narwhal tusks washed up on Northern shores. The male Arctic narwhal sprouts a sword-like tusk from its upper jaw, which can grow up to three-metres long. It's widely held that the spiraled tooth expresses aggression and dominance, and helps attract females. Over time, narwhal-inspired legends evolved from horned unicorns to tusk-bearing sea monsters of the Far North.

The largest known narwhal population inhabits the eastern Canadian Arctic and northwest Greenland. During the summer, this population migrates 2,000 kilometres from the deep inlets and fjords of the eastern Arctic to the frigid waters of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. During winter, narwhals dive to depths of 900 metres to get at deep-sea halibut and cod. Over the past few years, scientists have been learning more about this mysterious Arctic whale, and have found some alarming results. A study published in Marine Mammal Science last year found that narwhal populations have declined by an average of six percent annually for the past 17 years, a decline attributed to overhunting and halibut overfishing.

In 1971, the Canadian government made it illegal for anyone except Inuit to hunt narwhal, and restricted the number of narwhal each hunter can kill to five. It's now illegal for anyone to kill calves, or to kill females with young calves. It is not, however, illegal for zoos and aquariums to solicit their capture from Nunavut, or from other circumpolar regions where narwhals dwell.

The Calgary Zoo is planning to open a $100 million exhibit to showcase ecosystems of the Canadian North. To tentatively open in 2009, the exhibit is to include polar bears and seals. Last year, the Calgary Zoo tried, but eventually failed, to convince Nunavut's wildlife management board to approve the live capture and export of both a musk ox and narwhal from the Resolute Bay area, off Cornwallis Island.

The endangered narwhal has never survived in captivity. In 1969, an orphaned calf from Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island was sent to the New York Aquarium and died one month later. The following year, the Vancouver Public Aquarium captured and displayed six narwhals. All died within six months.

Most animal rights advocates oppose animal captivity. Their cries of concern become especially loud when zoos and aquariums try to confine Arctic wildlife like whales and polar bears, which are physically adapted to withstand cold temperatures and roam widely. Of all Arctic creatures, polar bears, belugas and narwhals cause the most concern because they seem to languish in captivity more than others.

Perhaps to avoid the ire of animal rights groups, the Calgary Zoo denies it approached the Nunavut board about obtaining wildlife. Spokesperson Trish Exton-Parder says the zoo will try to obtain already captive polar bears and other animals through exchange programs with accredited zoos, before plucking animals from their natural habitat.

The appeal of Arctic wildlife is understandable and widespread. Every year, tourists spend thousands of dollars to come north and catch a rare glimpse of roaming polar bears from the safety of an unshakable "tundra buggy," or spot walruses lounging on pack ice from the deck of a cruise ship. These hardy beasts survive well in their harsh Northern home, but some just can't cope when confined to swimming pools and glorified cages in the south. Should they even be there?

Two decades ago, Manitoba was a major exporter of its northern polar bears to zoos around the world. Through access to information requests, Toronto-based watchdog group Zoocheck and the World Society for the Protection of Animals tracked about 30 of the Manitoba bears and found some of them living in abysmal conditions in tropical countries, far from their icy Arctic homes. Polar bears sport a suit of thick blubber and the rugged, independent bear is almost completely covered in fur except for the tip of its nose and thick black pads on its feet. While its coat appears white, each hair is a clear hollow tube that transports heat from the sun's rays to its skin.

The World Society videotaped one bear at the Taipei City Zoo in Taiwan. The animal had lost much of its hair because of the hot climate and the black skin under its fur was showing. It was also spotted with scabs and its forelegs were bleeding. "It didn't even look like a polar bear anymore," says Rob Laidlaw of Zoocheck. Three other bears were located in a Mexican circus, suffering from heat and eating a diet of white bread and dog food. "It is doubtful that (Manitoba) would send bears to zoos again," said Laidlaw. "I just can't see them doing it." Such extreme cases of suffering are mostly evident in tropical climates.

It goes without saying that Nunavut Inuit and animal rights groups don’t always agree. Animal advocates launched an aggressive campaign against the seal hunt in the 1980's that effectively shut down the seal skin market and devastated thousands of Inuit hunters living in remote Arctic communities. Despite their troubled relations, both groups tend to cringe at the idea of sending Arctic animals to zoos in the south, but for different reasons. Animal rights groups are morally opposed to keeping animals in captivity - especially certain species - because it causes suffering. Research conducted by the Nunavut wildlife management board found that 90 percent of land claim beneficiaries oppose the export of wildlife. It is a traditional Inuit belief that you should not care for species of animals that you harvest or eat. "Even if you see a polar bear cub that has been left behind by its mother," says Harry Flaherty, acting chairperson of the Nunavut wildlife management board, "you are not supposed to care for it. If a species is to survive, it is supposed to care for itself."

A 2003 study published in the weekly science magazine Nature found that naturally wide-ranging carnivores kept in zoos are prone to high infant mortality rates and abnormal behaviour such as repetitive pacing. University of Oxford researchers Ros Clubb and Georgia Mason concluded that sheltering polar bears - typically housed in enclosures more than a million times smaller than their natural range - should be fundamentally changed or phased out.

About ten years ago, visitors to the Calgary Zoo could see polar bears exhibit classic signs of psychological problems caused by living in a cramped and monotonous environment. "You could see the stereotypical behaviour," says Michael Alvarez-Toye of the Calgary Animal Rights Coalition. "If you stood for awhile, you would see it take the exact same number of steps. It was heart wrenching. There was a glazed look in its eyes, almost like it was insane." One of the Calgary Zoo's polar bears also suffered from severe seizures, while another bear was on Prozac. When the last bear was euthanized in the mid-1990s because of crippling arthritis, the Calgary Zoo tore down its outdated polar bear building. Since then, some zoos have decided that customers find captive polar bears more depressing than inspiring and have gradually stopped replacing them after they die.

Animal rights groups believe whales are even more difficult to hold in captivity. These wide-ranging, deep diving creatures suffer from stress and boredom when confined to comparatively shallow, cramped conditions, says Rob Laidlaw of Zoocheck. In the wild, whales encounter currents, other creatures and different types of typography. "They've got a million different variables that affect what they do each day," Laidlaw says. "When you put them in a concrete bowl, virtually all these variables are eliminated. If this is chronic and over the long term, it leads to suffering because they have no natural outlet for dealing with the frustration, boredom or deprivation."

The last time the federal department of fisheries and oceans approved an application for the capture of a marine mammal was in 2004. Two walrus calves were taken from Nunavik (Arctic Quebec) and sent to the Quebec Aquarium. The Makivik Corporation, the official representative of Nunavik Inuit, supported these applications. Nunavut's wildlife management board was consulted, but declined the proposal. Makivik forged ahead anyway, and both calves are not dead.

Laidlaw and other animal advocates hope the Calgary Zoo aborts plans to house polar bears and whales. "It would be a wonderfully progressive statement for them to say, 'we've looked at this, and we don’t' think it's a good idea,'" Laidlaw says. "Some of the other zoos have shown courage in this regard."

Many zoos have tried to improve conditions for certain animals, such as polar bears, by building larger, more complex exhibits and developing enrichment programs to keep bears stimulated. Attempts by zoos to curb polar bear pacing through these programs have shown mixed results. The San Diego zoo spent $5 million on a state-of-the-art polar bear exhibit in 1996, but its bears continued to pace. The zoo then directed its efforts towards helping two recently orphaned bears develop coping skills. According to a study by the zoo, the percentage of time the cubs paced dropped from 25 percent to zero. Rob Purdy, vice president of the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, says planners at the Calgary Zoo will spare no effort to create a good environment for the bears. He said staff traveled to the Arctic, visited other zoos, consulted biologists and developed an interesting educational program when designing its hippo exhibit. Purdy says the Calgary Zoo will do the same when designing the Arctic Shores exhibition. "They will see what's working and do it better than anyone else. They are going to be totally amazing in terms of their professionalism in dealing with the polar bear."

The Calgary Zoo holds special nights in which children are invited to sleep beside a hippopotamus, with only a glass partition between them. Some were so affected by the experience that they raised money for conservation efforts directed at the hippo, Purdy says. Currently, many animals in zoos are born in captivity and can't be released into the wild, he added, but these animals still inspire the public to care about wildlife and their habitats. Polar bear exhibits, for instance, can help raise awareness about how global warming is melting the bears natural habitat. "You can show a polar bear cub to a visitor and ask them to take a pledge and promise to turn lights off and reduce fossil fuel use. I'm a passionate believer in the potential of zoos and aquariums to make a major positive change," he says. Zoos also play a valuable role in society by conducting research and taking part in programs that raise and then release endangered animals into the wild, adds Purdy.

But Laidlaw believes educational programs are simply a way to placate public concern so zoos can keep customers moving through the turnstiles. "Conservation messaging, if it exists at all, is just a tiny add-on and it's usually done in a manner that is ignored by most people."

Zoos display animals in a totally artificial context, Laidlaw says, where few of them can display even a fraction of the full range of their behaviour. "In most zoos, all anyone can learn is the size, shape and colour of the animal. That's not a good enough reason for their incarceration."