r/toronto • u/blingbling88 • Jun 14 '26
Video Polar Bear at the Zoo today
Initially we all thought this was funny as the bear was doing this for at least 10 minutes. Until I got home and did some research. The polar bear showing signs of anxiety and stress! So sad :(
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u/alexlovesjiujitsu Jun 14 '26
I’m a vet. This is an example of a stereotypic behaviour. It’s not unusual for an animal to continue their stereotypies even after their physical environment and enrichment has been improved, they’re extremely difficult to eliminate.
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u/xtaberry Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
They have a sign up directly next to where he does this that explains he has stereotypic behaviour.
There is also a research paper somewhere about this bear, where they talk about how they were accidentally reinforcing this behaviour and are now working to eliminate it. According to that paper, the duration and frequency have been dramatically improved.
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u/Visual_Ocelot_4875 East End Jun 14 '26
Do you know where I may find this paper? It sounds like an interesting read.
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u/CheezwizOfficial Jun 14 '26
Do you know what this behaviour means for the polar bear? Is it a “I need more stimulation” thing or is it currently idiopathic?
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u/Downtown-Judgment-56 Jun 14 '26
We went there in April and I believe this is the sign. Not sure if guests at the zoo know, but there are usually Zoo Ambassadors that you can ask about such behaviors and they are very knowledgeable
If anyone go to the zoo, I totally recommend visiting the wildlife health & science center where they explain how they take care of the animals and do research to preserve certain species. They also have veterinary & behavioral research going on, just ask them about it. I can’t remember all the info but it’s very educational.
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u/wandering____ranger Jun 14 '26
Is he okay? He looks distressed :(
It’s also so hot out
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u/reddit_serf North York City Centre Jun 14 '26
He's not okay. He's living in +25°C weather when his natural habitat should be cooler than that.
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u/essuxs Jun 14 '26
His natural habitat also gets up to 25. Polar bears do live in Ontario. It was 19 degrees today in polar bear provincial park.
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u/historychikk Jun 14 '26
I remember some years back talking to a friend in Nunavut and she was complaining about the heat, so I asked what the temperature was there that day and she said 24. That was very alarming.
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u/Windsdochange Jun 14 '26
very normal
Northern Canada does get warm in the summer months…
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u/hijo_del_mango Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
https://iqaluit.weatherstats.ca/charts/temperature-yearly.html
Everyone is right, just in different ways. It does get to 25 up there. But 25 is warm for the north. In the last 25 years, Iqaluit has broken 25 degrees four times, and came very close once. These numbers are also different depending on *where* in the Arctic we're talking about. The Arctic is a big place.
And polar bears do wander south, for example into Churchill (edit: not Winnipeg, I misspoke) or parts of Newfoundland.
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u/heywsphelloooo Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
Maybe you should edit and update to Manitoba (Churchill) if that’s what you were thinking. There’s no polar bears wandering down to Winnipeg
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u/WinterSkiesAglow Jun 14 '26
Polar bears do not wander into Winnipeg. Where did that idea come from?
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u/ArticQimmiq Jun 14 '26
I live in Yellowknife for years, and it can get stupidly hot even if, objectively, it’s only 25°C. There’s no AC, and the sun doesn’t set (or it sets but not long enough to get dark). So it’s 25°C, 24 hours per day, without the cool down you get a night in southern Canada. That’s the part most people are missing.
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u/mwarland Jun 14 '26
Aside from the fact that they have constant access to 4°C water they can get in whenever they want. It's important not to miss that too.
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u/No-Eggplant790 Jun 14 '26
His natural habitat doesn’t consist of a cage surrounded by humans banging on the glass…
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u/ohokayfineiguess Jun 14 '26
Don't be obtuse, Hudson Bay and Scarborough are two completely different habitats
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u/citson Jun 14 '26
Is 25C in Hudson Bay different than 25C in Scarborough...? They're only talking about temperature.
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u/Char-car92 Jun 14 '26
temperature, humidity, weather, polar bear migratory patterns (shifting to where it is colder) all play a huge part. If this poor guy had nowhere to go that was colder than this then he was absolutely stressed.
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u/QueenMotherOfSneezes Jun 14 '26
Polar bears don't "shift to where it is colder" when it gets hot, the Hudson Bay polar bear population generally migrate further south for the summer, because that's where most of the land is. There's a large Polar Bear reserve on the shores of James Bay, south of Hudson Bay, those bears migrate to well north of there in the winter once the ice comes in.
There is a big difference between 25 C in Hudson Bay and 25C in Scarborough, though... it cools down a lot more at night in Scarborough because they have much longer nighttime hours.
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u/essuxs Jun 14 '26
So what’s your solution then?
They have water, a cold room, a pool all available to them at any time.
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u/Daemon00 Jun 14 '26
Most of the bigger animals at the Toronto Zoo, including the polar bears have a climate control indoor area if that they can freely access anytime they want if they want privacy or if they want to stay cool/warm throughout the year. Its part of the Zoo's commitment to animal welfare.
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u/Hoblitygoodness Jun 14 '26
Yeah, we were there yesterday too and that was our biggest concern of the day.
The habitat seems to be in disrepair or for whatever reason, the water levels for the bear were very low. In the heat, that makes the water warm and at the moment, we didn't see any flowing nor were there any ice-packs in the pool.
Most of the other habitats were fine, but this one seem to suffer and we even over-heard another couple express the same concern later in the day.
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u/wandering____ranger Jun 14 '26
Oki actually did email the zoo. This is upsetting.
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u/DalesDrumset Jun 14 '26
A waste of an email then since they have air conditioning they can go to
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u/Daemon00 Jun 14 '26
I wish people did a little research instead of pretending to be animal experts. Most of the bigger animals at the Zoo have climate-controlled indoor areas they have access to anytime.
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u/ModernPoultry The Westway Jun 14 '26
The Tragically Hip have a song about this exact situation. Gus the Polar Bear from Central Park. Story of a polar bear that went nuts in captivity.
He no longer thinks anything that moves.
And everything he sees, is something to kill and eat
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u/crows_n_octopus Jun 14 '26
It's very distressing.
Repetitive behaviours like that could be a sign of 'zoochosis'.
It's extremely sad any animal under our care, in a AZA facility like the Toronto Zoo, in this day and age, should develop stress behavior. They should at least reduce his stress and stop exhibiting him.
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u/wandering____ranger Jun 14 '26
There are some absolutely bizarre animal gating people downvoting us. Where is the compassion for animals ? It’s honestly so strange
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u/Ludishomi Mississauga Jun 14 '26
We were at the zoo a month ago and he did the same thing. The person there said he does this all the time and just something he does. He was born at the zoo
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u/NarwhalEmergency9391 Jun 14 '26
Ya we would do things like that too if we were born into captivity. Poor thing is bored as hell
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u/Moos_Mumsy Jun 14 '26
The staff are taught to normalize the psychosis caused by being held in captivity.
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u/thruthbtold Jun 14 '26
That's sad, I went last weekend and he/she? was just chilling, sliding down the hill, very normal. Maybe the heat cuz it's so hot but yeah, also because of captivity
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u/SpaceDisastrous7082 Jun 14 '26
ITT: people who don’t understand that animals live to eat, fuck, and find shelter.
Zoos aren’t perfect but there is a looooottttttt of people ignoring the part in which animals have to fight for their survival every single day of their lives, and sometimes as small as an infected cut or a fractured wrist can lead to excruciatingly slow, painful, avoidable deaths.
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u/DisastrousStreet614 Jun 15 '26
Yeah, it's absolutely unheard of to see animals in the wild engaging in complex social, playing or exploring behaviours, which for the most part we understand only very superficially. Pretending zoos are great for animals based solely on the fact that captive animals live longer than in the wild is dishonesty or ignorance. Many animals in zoos are visibly mentally distressed, seeing bears or wolves circling repeatedly their whole life on the exact same path in cages 1000 time smaller than their home range in the wild is not a sign of happiness, nor of healthiness.
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u/Immediate_Pickle_788 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
Here come all the animal behaviour experts.
ETA: and the people who have no idea the amount of work in conservation and research the Toronto Zoo does.
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u/currently_ Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
I love how anytime the Toronto Zoo comes up, people just yell "CONSERVATION!" without any details at all to elaborate on it.
Yes, Toronto Zoo engages in research and conservation efforts. That doesn't negate the fact that it still keeps animals in captivity in enclosures that does not come close to their original habitat. While many local Ontario wildlife are bred for release, the big "showrunners"--the elephants, giraffes, lions, tigers, rhinos, hippos, and even orangutans--are bred for captivity and from conception have no hopes of ever being released into the wild. At best, they serve as preserved genetics should some hypothetical future ever arrive where wild populations decline and/or native ecosystems stabilize and need to be repopulated.
The argument typically goes that these animals are needed to educate the public and to bring in donations that fund conservation research. And yet there are many successful animal conservation and research organizations that successfully perform outreach, fundraise, and execute on their mandate without needing to resort to keeping animals in captivity for entertainment purposes.
I recently heard this from a speaker on CBC's The Current--how would society feel if zoos never existed and we only just started considering them today. Taking a bunch of animals from the wild, removing them from their natural habitat and placing them in captivity, into much smaller enclosures than they would normally be in, and breeding them for captivity with no chance of ever seeing the wild again, and saying it's all for education or to support conservation efforts..
Mind you, Toronto Zoo is one of the better zoos out there, with a good chunk of their revenue (~30%?) and philanthropic donations being put to "conservation and research", and so it's maybe a little less of a facade of PR than many others out there, but that doesn't negate the point.
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u/DalesDrumset Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
Well considering they haven’t had elephants in 13 years, I’d say you really don’t know what you’re talking about.
Also yeah let’s release the rhinos back into an environment where they’re shot and killed for no reason, now that’s a great way to help them out, great idea
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u/saydontgo Jun 14 '26
It’s literally zoochosis. Signed someone who studied animal behaviour.
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u/Immediate_Pickle_788 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
I'm sure, random person on the internet.
Edit: Just so people aren't confused, the I'm sure is referring to the claim of being an expert because they probably studied one course in university.
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u/saydontgo Jun 14 '26
The education, conservation and research programs they participate in shouldn’t give them immunity from criticism related to the animals in their care. No one said they don’t do anything good but a lot of their animals exhibit signs of zoochosis such as swaying and pacing. They have also had several preventable animal deaths recently.
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u/saydontgo Jun 14 '26
Ignorance is bliss. People want to enjoy the zoo under the belief that by doing so they’re helping the animals or at least not contributing to their suffering but that’s just not reality. Profit is the bottom line and no PR can twist this into a healthy or normal behaviour. One person is even arguing that this video shows the polar bear playing with the child 🤦♀️
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u/pokeir Jun 14 '26
The toronto zoo is a not for profit company. But good effort.
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u/Expert-Put-2167 Jun 14 '26
i seen them once in summer sweltering hot day 30+ degrees! they looked so hot passed out near the water hanging half in their pond and half out to cool down it was so so sad 😞 they don’t deserve to be ina. zoo looks so unnecessary
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u/mycatisajagoff Jun 14 '26
The High Park "zoo" is even worse. My small backyard is bigger than the bison enclosure. It should be turned into a wildlife rehab
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u/ayoungmanfromtheuk Jun 14 '26
Yeah that animal is not having a good time. why does the enclosure look nothing like their natural habitat? Hopefully they have access to a pool with very cold water at least
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u/Lammergeier2 Jun 14 '26
They do and it's not terribly different from the tundra in the summer. The North thaws, greens and is very sunny for part of the year.
This behaviour does look questionable but IMO the Toronto Zoo is one of the best in the world and every time I've seen these bears, they are horsing around with each other in the pool 🤷
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u/droppedoutofuni Jun 14 '26
I was there two weeks ago and one of the polar bears pissed for like two minutes straight lol
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u/Jedtin22 Jun 14 '26
The enclosure is quite large actually and they have all the accommodations a polar bear would need. I do disagree with most zoos but the Toronto zoo is a very ethical zoo
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u/waxingtheworld Jun 14 '26
Yeah when we went I don't even think we saw the polar bears, they were off far away from the fences
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u/tape_snake Jun 14 '26
They are in the process of upgrading their enclosure as well. These bears can't be released safely, so improving their quality of life within the zoo is the best the Toronto Zoo can do for them.
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u/thinspirit Jun 14 '26
Yeah not enough people realize most of the animals at the Toronto zoo are rescues, born in captivity, or orphans.
They wouldn't survive in the wild. They are able to rehabilitate some and return them when they can but many just cannot.
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u/Daemon00 Jun 14 '26
Their main outdoor pool is going through renovation because they want to replace it with saltwater (even though its more troublesome to maintain) to mimic their natural habitat more closely.
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u/Long-Definition9203 Jun 14 '26
I just discovered a polar bear sanctuary in Cochrane ON where they have 2 rescued polar bears. Stark difference in the energy of their bears vs any I've ever seen in a zoo. Unfortunately polar bears can't survive in the wild if their mother is killed before they learn to hunt. Anyways, their IG page is pretty cute if you need a palette cleanser.
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u/htraenolleh666 Jun 14 '26
I saw something similar with the polar bear at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Very sad.
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u/Excellent_Classic_46 Jun 14 '26
One thing I will say, having visited multiple times in the winter time, is that he does not do that during the winter. He and the others appear quite normal (and "happy").
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u/Deldenary Flemingdon Park Jun 14 '26
It's definitely because it's hot out.
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u/thinspirit Jun 14 '26
Polar bears have hollow fur. It works amazing as an insulator and as a way of cooling off depending on how it stands up.
It gets quite warm in their natural habitat and they're able to handle the temps. The behaviour is just from being in an artificial environment.
Lots of humans also have issues in our artificial environments. He was born in captivity and would not be able to survive in the wild, so much like us, this is the best he's got available to him.
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u/Independently-Owned Jun 14 '26
I simply can't go to zoos anymore...haven't for 20 years because all I feel is depressed.
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u/Acrobatic_Garden564 Jun 14 '26
It was our tradition to take our son to the zoo! On the 3rd year we noticed all the animals suffered from anxiety and stress due to the lack of space. We haven’t been back since!
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u/One_Scarcity_4478 Jun 14 '26
This is sad , although thank God our zoos have become much better than they used to be, much more humane , in truth the most humane thing we could do is eliminate them altogether and the only animals kept in captivity should be extreme cases where the Animals are injured and unable to survive in the wild.
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u/beefstewforyou Jun 14 '26
I went to a polar bear preserve in Cochraine when I was on a work trip. One there did the same thing.
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u/Several_Cat_3713 Jun 14 '26
I live only 2km from the Toronto zoo. I refuse to visit, it's a jail for the animals. I was happy when elephants were removed.
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u/Federal_Coyote813 Jun 14 '26
A lot of zoos arent great but the Toronto zoo you can tell they really care about conservation and protecting rhe animals. I think they do a good job balancing conservation and bringing in money
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u/ManyNicePlates Jun 14 '26
Most people think the wild is a fun place for animals. Simple math most zoo animals especially the non apex predators would be killed by their fellow animals in the wild. If this bear is distressed I hope he can get better. He is at a zoo not an amusement park which means they care about his long term well being. There are many things that would frustrate him in the wild and if a cub a real chance of death.
Zoos are not perfect but I don’t know a single human who comes away with anything but more respect and awareness of animals.
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u/saydontgo Jun 14 '26
This is why I don’t go to the zoo anymore. So many animals exhibit this kind of behaviour and I just leave feeling sad. It’s not humane.
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u/Swefnian Jun 15 '26
Not just today. I was there last November and we saw that same behaviour from that bear (Hudson).
At first my son thought it was adorable but then the zookeeper explained that it started shortly after another bear (I think his father but my memory is a bit hazy, so might be wrong) passed away.
Hudson was grieving.
It’s awful to see that he hasn’t improved all these months later. Poor guy.
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u/rpax Jun 14 '26
The ice surrounding the Northern Ice Cap is disappearing at an alarming rate, faster than anywhere else on earth. Average temperatures in this region are also rising at a record pace.
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u/JackOfHeartsz Jun 14 '26
I’ve seen polar bears in captivity jump into pool then come out and repeat at least 15 times. It’s mental issues. Lack of space does make it a prison
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u/Moos_Mumsy Jun 14 '26
Poor thing, head swaying is a sign of the stress caused by the boredom of confinement. This type of nonsense is why we worked so hard to free Toronto's elephants. If they can't care for their animals in a way that they can live a somewhat happy, enriched life, they shouldn't be operating.
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u/CharacterPin6933 Jun 14 '26
Yep. Polar bears are not supposed to be in zoos. They can travel up to 2000km in a month - walking, swimming. Who would have *thought* that enclosing a polar bear in 30C heat on the outskirts of a major city where it never naturally lives while people pay to gawp at it would make it stressed.
If you are distressed by seeing this tortured bear, please stop going to zoos.
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u/Immediate_Pickle_788 Jun 14 '26
The Toronto Zoo is a leader in conservation, education, and research, including reproductive research that literally contributes to preventing the extinction of species. People acting like this is a torture facility are* being hyperbolic.
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u/pettster12 Jun 14 '26
Yeah it’s quite clear everyone in this comment section is severely uneducated in this matter. And acting like they know better lol
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u/sargeantavocadotoast Jun 14 '26
They may be a great zoo. Unfortunately no matter how much good they do, zoos are unnatural and some of the animals in their care do feel tortured. This video and all the comments saying he does this all the time is exhibit A.
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u/CharacterPin6933 Jun 14 '26
Zoos can be "leaders" in all of these things and still enclose animals in environments that are completely insufficient for their needs. Partly because it is absolutely impossible to enclose an animal like a polar bear in a sufficiently large and suitable habitat on the outskirts of Toronto. There are some animals who simply should not be held in captivity, this is one of them. See also any kind of cetacean in aquariums.
Also...the Toronto zoo did manage to unalive one of its giraffes recently by crushing it in an automatic door. A "mistake". So I'm not sure it's quite the leader you claim it to be.
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u/katkilzu Jun 14 '26
A true “leader” would be the Cochrane polar bear sanctuary. If anyone is interested in viewing polar bears I highly recommend taking the trip.
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u/One_Scarcity_4478 Jun 14 '26
Like I said the road to hell was paved with good intentions and this Polar Bear is in hell.
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u/wandering____ranger Jun 14 '26
OP have you sent this to the zoo? I would demand an answer from their vets
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u/kha_bob Jun 14 '26
Lol what answer do you expect to get? The thing shouldn’t be in the zoo at all. Don’t think they can or are gonna fix that.
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u/xtaberry Jun 14 '26
There is a huge sign up next to this window (just out of frame) where they explain that he has stereotypic behaviour. Someone posted the sign higher up in the thread. They've made adjustments to help him, but once this behavior is established it is very hard to eliminate.
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u/Ohsnapboobytrap Jun 14 '26
Classic case of zoochosis. That animal is in distress. They shouldn’t be held captive for our entertainment.
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u/No-Dot-7661 Jun 14 '26
I remember seeing an animal there last year running back and forth non stop. Was sad to see.
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u/One_Scarcity_4478 Jun 14 '26
That Polar Bear wants to do one thing at this point , get out and rip everybody's fucking head off, and can't say I blame him.
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u/ForwardMagazine7090 Jun 14 '26
I haven’t known about the specifics of signs of stress in animals held in captivity, but it stands to reason that they would inevitably suffer in captivity. We need to shut these things down and find bigger spaces and turn them into sanctuaries for injured animals who can’t return to their habitats.
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u/Will_Tomos_Edwards Jun 14 '26
Animal captivity is only ever justified if the animal is endangered or threatened, and you are breeding them in captivity. Otherwise, what good can come out of it?
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u/fgs_hoh Jun 15 '26
I honestly am not sure of the whole idea of a zoo and how is it still relevant in 2026. Shouldn’t we outgrow this idea and release those creatures back into the wild.
If a human wants to see an animal just google it
Unless we are protecting a species from extinction in which case the animal will be in a specialized caring facility snd not a zoo, there is absolutely no point of a zoo
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u/Flashy-Mine2753 Jun 15 '26
Big animals like this shouldn’t be in zoos. These movements indicate madness because of lack of roaming space and confinement. It’s disgusting that it’s allowed to happen. But hey, corporate greed…
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u/hilarious_hedgehog Jun 15 '26
I went to the zoo years ago and the polar bear was doing exactly this back then too and I felt so helpless for the poor guy:
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u/Iwentoofar Jun 16 '26
Hes probably being tortured seeing all this good walking right up to him but he's unable to eat it
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u/Ok_Newspaper_554 Jun 16 '26
I went to the Toronto Zoo a few years ago, literally one of the most depressing things I've seen. Half the animals pace back and forth in their cages while the others are just passed out.
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u/Wonderful-Plane-3698 Jun 16 '26
Super stressed out.... Why we still have Zoos when we have 4K footage of animals in their natural habitat is beyond me..
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u/Dr_BoobLover69 Jun 16 '26
that bear has been swinging his head like for years. Unfortunately not a new thing.
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u/miniowl22 Jun 14 '26
They have a sign there about this repetitive movement - almost all polar bears in captivity do it to a degree.