Mar 23, 2009 Comments

Inuka’s Sacrifice

Categories: Activism, Environment Tags: polar bear

Potentially fatal to the polar bear, global warming has already left its mark on the species with smaller, less robust bears that are increasingly showing cannibalistic tendencies… The melting ice means not only shorter hunting seasons, but it also means the bears, who number some 20,000 to 25,000 worldwide, have to cross greater distances to reach their icy hunting grounds. This has led to a deterioration of the bears’ health, impacting their reproductive capacities and the cubs’ chances of survival, experts warned.

Source: AFP

This report reminded me of the plight of our 2 polar bears housed at the Singapore Zoo. The fact that Singapore’s tropical climate is totally unsuitable for polar bears and that they live in a small, barren, open-air enclosure means that Inuka and Sheba are subjected to living in a stressful environment. As reported by the Animal Concerns & Research Society (ACRES), Inuka and Sheba have been seen to display behavioural (abnormal behaviours, including stereotypies) and physical (loss of lean muscle mass and fur) signs of distress, as well as signs of heat stress. The zoo had said in 2006 that Inuka would be moved to a country with a temperate climate after his mother dies, following ACRES’ report that the bears were showing signs of distress.

Unfortunately, the zoo reversed its decision in May 2007, stating that its animal welfare and ethics committee had recommended that Inuka, the 17-year-old bear, remain at the Southeast Asian zoo because of the risks involved in moving it. It seemed a case of too late too little. The good thing though, is that the Singapore Zoo has decided not to import any Arctic animals in the future. Inuka has paid the sacrifice so that no more arctic animals need to suffer in tropical Singapore.

Although this comes very late, I applaud ACRES for its effort. Strategy-wise, it chose to conduct a study so as to have facts on hand to convince the zoo authority (compare this to the greenpeace protests we oft read about). How else could the zoo respond when faced with irrefutable facts? There is something for us to learn from this.

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