(c) STV Productions
Born Free Reacts To Channel 4 Documentary Britains Polar Bear Cub
6 years ago 
1831 views
As the hour-long documentary Britain’s Polar Bear Cub airs on Channel 4 on 18th March documenting the mating and pregnancy which led to the birth of the first polar bear to be born in the UK for 25 years, international wildlife charity Born Free questions whether this event is really something to be celebrated.
The cub was born at Highland Wildlife Park, which is operated by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, in late 2017. However, serious concerns have been raised about the life the cub will experience in captivity.
Research commissioned by Born Free in 1987, and subsequent evaluations of polar bears in captivity, indicate that this species is profoundly ill-suited to the zoo environment, with widespread abnormal stereotypical behaviours, infanticide and high rates of cub mortality.
Earlier this year, reacting to news of the birth of the cub, Born Free President, Will Travers OBE, said: “At a time when the zoo community should be phasing-out the keeping of polar bears in captivity, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has decided to row against the tide. From a welfare point of view, the enclosure at the Highland Wildlife Park may be significantly better than the blue-rinse concrete pits that people so often associate with polar bears in zoos, but we contend that our efforts on behalf of this species should be focused on mitigating the impacts of human-induced climate change and securing the species in the wild, not subjecting another polar bear to a lifetime in captivity.
“Doug Richardson, Head of Living Collections at the zoo, has stated that his approach to care and husbandry mirrors ‘what would happen in the wild’. The wild is a place this cub will never see or know, and how depressing that we still believe that we should have ‘living collections’.
“Will this infant polar bear fare any better than the young polar bear born at Berlin zoo, who was reported dead on 2nd January 2018, aged 26 days, or the cub born to the same mother who was found dead in March 2017? Born Free and our many supporters around the world sadly cannot celebrate events at the Highland Wildlife Park.”
He added: “Coming just days after Edinburgh Zoo announced the suspension (some say end) of its expensive, controversial and invasive panda programme, the way we subject captive wild animals to intensive scrutiny, virtually around the clock, just reinforces how unnatural and inward-looking our relationship with wild animals is becoming.”
Born Free maintains that breeding programmes in zoos for species such as polar bears have little or no role to play in tackling the many significant threats that, confront wildlife populations, habitats and ecosystems today. Born Free and its many supporters are working to end the exploitation of wild animals in captivity while protecting threatened species where they belong – in the wild.
More from Born Free Foundation
- Born Free launches Wildlife Heroes
- Born Free launches appeal to rehome King the lion cub to South African sanctuary
- New report highlights South African governments role in the bloody, commercial lion body part trade
- Trouble at the Zoo Born Free calls for overhaul of UK zoo licensing and inspections
- Born Frees bid to Build a Future for Wildlife
2 days ago