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Not to be glib but I think the fact that bears are stereotypically depicted as eating Honey might have been the first clue. EDIT: To be fair, clicking beyond t
by larsiusprime 4y ago
Not to be glib but I think the fact that bears are stereotypically depicted as eating Honey might have been the first clue.
EDIT: To be fair, clicking beyond the headline, it looks like the ongoing practice at zoos has been to feed them a carnivore diet of mostly meat, which is apparently bad for them, and this article recommends otherwise, which seems sensible.
- nkozyra 4y agoThey also list polar bears, which I always assumed did not have access to much vegetation for most of the year. Feeding them more fat is one thing, but that doesn't really negate their mostly carnivorous nature.
- larsiusprime 4y agoThat's true, I had the same assumption they mostly just ate seals
- NoGravitas 4y agoRight, so that's the thing, polar bears do eat (almost?) exclusively meat. But the zoos are feeding them too much lean meat, and not enough fat. You know, like seal blubber.
- nkozyra 4y agoYeah that was my point. The title is a little misleading. And in fact what they're really saying is that bears are not being fed a diet consistent with their nutritional makeup in the wild. Which is likely very true of all animals in captivity.
- tsol 4y agoThese zoos need to get caught up on the latest research. I believe according to Yogi et al. their diet primarily consists of honey and campers' picnic baskets.
- dllthomas 4y agoI think you mean pic-a-nic baskets.
- andrewflnr 4y agoI'm told they're actually going after the bee larvae, but don't have a good source for that...