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Zoo News
RZSS outlines future polar bear plans
9 November 2009 - The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) today announced that it intends to keep polar bears in its animal collection at the Highland Wildlife Park for the foreseeable future and, in the long term, will contribute to the conservation and understanding of this increasingly threatened species. RZSS recently transferred Mercedes the polar bear from Edinburgh Zoo to a four acre purpose-built enclosure at the Highland Wildlife Park where she has settled in extremely well. Mercedes has been on her own for 13 years, which is the natural state for this solitary species, and she will remain on her own until she dies.
In time, RZSS plans to build another polar bear enclosure of a similar size and complexity at the Highland Wildlife Park to hold a male polar bear. When Mercedes dies, a female will be placed in the existing enclosure. The two bears will be brought together for the breeding season only, which replicates their natural behaviour in the wild, in the hope that they will produce cubs.
For several years, the polar bear has not figured as a focus species for RZSS, other than ensuring that Mercedes received the best level of care we could offer. Unfortunately, due to the accelerated rate of climate change in the Arctic, the polar bear population in the wild is now perched on the edge of a precipitous decline. Polar bear field biologists affiliated with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have suggested that the captive population of polar bears in well-managed zoos may indeed have a key role to play and that an active partnership between the field and zoo communities could benefit the species.
Douglas Richardson, Animal Collection Manager at the Highland Wildlife Park, explains:
“Modern zoos all over the world look to the specialists within IUCN, as the largest conservation network organisation in the world, for guidance on what species to focus their animal collections and subsequent breeding programmes on. Until recently, there was no real conservation need to keep polar bears in zoos as there was a healthy population in the wild and therefore RZSS had no definite plans to replace Mercedes after she died. However a shrinking polar ice-cap and shortening polar ice season has pitched the polar bears to the fore-front of conservation concerns, so much so that key representatives of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group now feel that the modern zoo community has an increasingly important role to play, which will include keeping and breeding polar bears within our collections long term. They also recognise that zoos are in a position to assist with research that would be impossible to conduct with their wild counterparts. If our understanding of their biology and behavior is enhanced, then our chances of saving the species may also improve.”
Dr. Andrew Derocher, current member and former chair of the IUCN SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, adds:
“Polar bears in the wild are at increasing risk from climate change. Zoos are playing a
critical role in the education of the public about polar bears and if we don't respond
appropriately to the threat of climate change, zoos will have to play an increasing role in the
conservation of the species. Zoos may become important repositories of valuable genetic
material that could be reintroduced if we are unable to hold onto them in the wild."
For further information
Editor’s Notes
About Mercedes
Mercedes, the only polar bear in a UK zoo, has been in Edinburgh since 1984. She was rescued
from her native Canada after she was scheduled to be shot. Unfortunately she began roaming into a
nearby town in search of food and, as they are dangerous animals, this behaviour had to be
discouraged. Initially, she was captured and the number ‘39’ was painted on her coat which allowed
her to be tracked. On her third visit the decision was made to shoot her. Luckily, she was rescued
and RZSS offered her a home at Edinburgh Zoo.
It was one of RZSS’s life members who helped rescue Mercedes from Canada. She enlisted the help of her cousin, a former Minister of Fisheries in Canada, to find a new home for her.
When Mercedes arrived at Edinburgh Zoo she was paired with a male polar bear called Barney. They produced two cubs, To-Nuik and Ohoto. Barney passed away 13 years ago.
Mercedes currently has a comprehensive and constantly evolving enrichment programme to stimulate her. She has also responded well to husbandry training by her keepers that allows for some basic health checks to be carried-out without the need for anesthesia.
About the Highland Wildlife Park
Until recently, the Highland Wildlife Park’s animal collection contained species representing Scotland’s past and present such as Scottish wildcats and European wolves. The expanded new collection includes many of its existing animals but has been widened to include animals from mountain and tundra habitats from around the world.
The planned re-development is expected to take three to five years and it is hoped that the increase in visitor numbers will help fund conservation work in the wild, both in Scotland and further afield.
The Highland Wildlife Park is owned by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which also owns
Edinburgh Zoo.
RZSS was founded by visionary lawyer Thomas Gillespie. The Society was set up in 1909 ‘to
promote, facilitate and encourage the study of zoology and kindred subjects and to foster and
develop amongst the people an interest in and knowledge of animal life’. The Society
celebrates its centenary this year.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is a registered charity, charity no SC004064.
About the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic
solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges.
IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientific research, managing field projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.
IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,000 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.
The IUCN create the Red List of Threatened Species (or The IUCN Red List). This is the world’s
most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant and animal
species. It is based on an objective system for assessing the risk of extinction of a species
should no conservation action be taken.
www.iucn.org