Case Study: 'Baloo'
Animal: Asiatic Moon Bear.
Location: Shaanxi Research and Rescue Centre, Xi'an, China.
Date: 20th July - 10th August 2013.
Within this post, I will be cross analysing three sets of video footage of the Asiatic black bear, supporting my investigation into the physical and psychology needs of wild animals and the effects on them if the animal is caged in a unstimulating, unnatural environment. The reason for chosing the Asiatic black bear as a case study is because as stated by Erin Berghammer in her 'Enclosure design affects on animal behaviour and physiology of the captive grizzly bear.' article, "Bears in captivity show a higher incidence of stereotypies compared to other mammals". Therefore, I felt this case study was most effective to portray the psychological effects of an unstimulating, unnatural enclosure onto a predominantly wild animal. These findings will relate to dog psychology, as despite our species of dog being domesticated, 'captive' environments do not provide enough mental stimulation or 'adequate space' to exert their physical needs. (Berghammer, L. E., 2008)
Two, being secondary sources, portray the wild Asiatic black bear in their natural habitat. The other video footage was a first-hand observation during my time volunteering in China. This footage shows a caged Asiatic black bear, who had been taken to the Shaanxi Research and Rescue centre as a cub.
VIDEO ONE (Baloo, Asiatic Black Bear, 2014. [user generated content Vimeo] Jordan. 2nd December 2014. Available at: http://vimeo.com/113425279 [Accessed 2nd December 2014].)
A footage series portraying Asiatic Moon Bears in the wild displaying normal behaviour within their natural environment:
VIDEO TWO (Wild Asiatic Black Bear taking a bath Thailand, 2012. [user generated content Youtube] wildlifethailand. 6th January 2012. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cwLGsdA2-w [Accessed 2nd December 2014].)
VIDEO THREE
(Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus), 2010. [user generated content Youtube] tomb0171. 10th July 2010. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDwqt8yWbSE [Accessed 2nd December 2014].)
EVALUATIVE THOUGHTS
Video One portrays the same animal species, but enclosed in a barren, unstimulating concrete cage. The bear named 'Baloo', being raised from a cub at the centre, has a sense of domestication about him as he is friendly and actively engages with human attention. Nonetheless, it immediately becomes apparent that he is displaying abnormal 'stereotypic' behaviours, many of which he repeats systematically (Berghammer, L. E., 2008). Baloo would pace and lap the length of the enclosure before jumping onto and scaling the concrete ledge whilst clutching onto the metal caging. He would continuously repeat this activity - even when I distracted him for a few minutes, something would snap and he would suddenly revert back to this activity.
This behaviour holds sharp contrast to that displayed in Video Two and Video Three, when this creature lives in its natural habitat of woodland and rough terrain, where it can exert its natural, instinctive behaviours. As shown in Video Three, the bear is faced with natural obstacles, including uneven rocky terrain and strong river currents. These natural elements provide a means of mental and physical stimulation, with the bear using all its muscles and energy to clamber across to its destination, whilst using it initiative to discover what routes are safe and what aren't. With a continuous and almost endless landscape of its habitat, no day is the same for this bear.
In sharp contrast, the day for 'Baloo' (Video One), is highly structured with the bear having little control of their activities. With no daily challenges to overcome, this bear is psychology trapped and boredom causes the exertion of stereotypic behaviour (Berghammer, L. E., 2008). On analysis, the climbing across the metal caging could be a adaption to the need for the bear to climb as if in the wild (shown in Video Three), nonetheless the accompanying deep, erratic breathing shows the bear is mentally frustrated by his surroundings.