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Social Cognition in Polar Bears

In most zoos and animal parks, polar bears (ursus maritimus) attract such a disproportionate amount of attention that they are referred to in the industry as “charismatic megafauna,” or in other words, “really cool animals.” Perhaps it is because it is especially rare for the average zoo-goer to happen upon a polar bear in the [...]

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In most zoos and animal parks, polar bears (ursus maritimus) attract such a disproportionate amount of attention that they are referred to in the industry as "charismatic megafauna," or in other words, "really cool animals." Perhaps it is because it is especially rare for the average zoo-goer to happen upon a polar bear in the wild, or because they live in such an inhospitable environment. Perhaps it's just because polar bears are so damn cute.

Maybe we should just blame Coca-Cola.


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Whatever the reason, psychologists Michael J. Renner and and Aislinn L. Kelly of West Chester University in Pennsylvania write that because of their high level of regard they serve as "important ambassador[s] for species-survival plans and conservation efforts" and therefore have significant value in public education.

Perhaps owing to the scarcity of available resources in the wild, polar bears live most of their lives in isolation. Aside from brief encounters for mating purposes, they live and hunt alone. The longest that polar bears are known to live together is for three years while mother bears care for their cubs. Their solitary lifestyle makes social encounters between individual polar bears extremely uncommon. And yet in captivity, polar bears are housed socially, with several individuals sharing the same space. Given their size and strength, aggressive interactions between individuals could be dangerous and potentially deadly. For these reasons, it is important to understand the social behavior of polar bears, in order to best design their zoo enclosures to minimize conflict and maximize health and quality of life.

The polar bears at the Philadelphia Zoo spend their days outside sharing the same enclosure, from 9am to 4:30pm. Given that wild polar bears live in isolation, Renner and Kelly hypothesized that not only would social interactions between the bears be infrequent, but that they would actively display social avoidance behavior.

Two adult captive-born female polar bears, appropriately named Klondike and Coldilocks, were observed for a total of 106 hours, in 30-minute blocks, with an observation recorded every minute, over 10 months. Nothing was unique about these data collection periods in terms of the treatment or management of the bears; they maintained the same feeding schedule and enrichment programs throughout the study.

In order to record where each bear was within the enclosure at each time point, eight distinct zones were identified. In addition, any relevant zookeeper activity and the amount of visitors present was recorded for each time point as well.

Figure 1: Polar bear enclosure, with eight zones identified.

A total of 592 zone transitions were recorded, meaning that the bears changed positions roughly once every ten minutes. 44.3% of those movements resulted in decreasing the distance between the individuals, and 55.6% resulted in increasing the distance. However, the mean change in distance between bears when they moved was 1.3 meters, which was statistically different from zero, suggesting that overall the bears moved away from each other more than they moved towards each other. Moreover, while there was only a 10% probability of one bear changing positions in any given observation, there was a 60% probability of the second bear changing positions in the subsequent minute, in order to increase the distance between the two individuals.

Overall, these data support the hypothesis that Klondike and Coldilocks engaged in social avoidance. In general, the bears moved farther away from each other instead of closer to each other. If one bear moved closer, the other responded by moving away to preserve the inter-individual distance.

More specifically, the bears spent only 7.2% of their time in the same zone. In slightly less than 10% of the observations in which the bears were in the same zone, aggressive behaviors were observed, which included vocalization, paw swipes, bared teeth, and biting attempts. Non-aggressive social interactions between the two bears was even less frequent. Physical contact was almost non-existent. These observations lend support to the hypothesis that the social avoidance employed by the two bears successfully helped them avoid aggressive social interactions.

How could it be that, within a relatively small enclosure, the mean change in distance between the two bears is positive? It turns out that this enclosure is particularly well-designed: at nearly every zone within the enclosure, a path is available for moving away from any other zone.

This is good news for zoos: if an enclosure of sufficiently complex topology is designed, polar bears can reasonably be kept in captivity with relatively low possibility of significant aggression. It should be noted that this is not a controlled experiment, but rather a case study of two bears in one zoo. It could easily be, for example, that these particular polar bears were relatively easy-going or non-aggressive. What this study does demonstrate, however, is that polar bears are capable of co-existing in the same space with low risk of aggression. As the researchers rightly conclude:

Because polar bears are capable of actively managing social distance, enclosure designs should consider including topographical complexity and multiple pathways through the enclosure to facilitate social avoidance behavior. Proper exhibit design and appropriate behavior management can make substantial contributions to enhancing the welfare of captive polar bears. This can facilitate their important role as an ambassador species, increasing public awareness of important conservation issues.

Renner, M., & Kelly, A. (2006). Behavioral Decisions for Managing Social Distance and Aggression in Captive Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 9 (3), 233-239 DOI: 10.1207/s15327604jaws0903_5

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

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