Pagi
If you are a regular visitor to the San Diego Zoo, you may have noticed that our sun bears have been off exhibit recently. Instead, there have been several people working on their exhibit because our nimble little female, Pagi, told us it needed some work. She has been exploring the nooks and crannies of the exhibit lately and has been seen several times moving vertically and horizontally across the walls, clinging by little toe holds.
Sun bears are well known to be highly arboreal. In the wild, adults have been spotted napping far above ground. They even make themselves something of a night nest to rest upon, a little like orangutans might do. We have seen Marcella drag burlap or paper sacks up onto a platform to cozy up with, her version of a nest; Palu has done this, too. Sun bears also climb to take advantage of fruits of giant, old-growth trees. Some of these can be tens of meters high, but sun bears take this in stride. They learn to climb at a very young age. At 20 weeks old, our cubs have been observed scaling the walls of their bedroom enclosures, grabbing onto crevices in the ceiling with their claws!
Sun bears aren’t the only bears with amazing climbing skills. In fact, they may be outdone by their cousins, the Andean (or spectacled) bears. Our collaborators at a field site in Peru have seen wild bears there scaling sheer cliffs, even when they have the choice to go around such an obstacle (see post The Bear Goes Over the Mountain). They have been seen leading their young cubs, barely out of the den, up and down such land features. These astounding feats of bear acrobatics are a testament to the great strength and agility these bears possess.
It’s an amazing sight to see: a bear climbing vertical, sometimes overhanging, surfaces. Pagi’s innate athleticism has encouraged us to go over the exhibit with a fine-toothed comb to ensure there are no toe holds that could get a curious little bear into trouble. Funny, her brother, Palu, seems in no risk for such antics; while playful, he is more comfortable sticking closer to his mother than Pagi. Nonetheless, efforts to trim the overhanging vegetation and more detailed exhibit modifications are underway.
Suzanne Hall is a senior research technician for the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research.
I have seen the velcro bear in action! Pagi seemed very determined. Palu didn’t seem so interested in such activity.
Have previous cubs demonstrate the same behaviors? I don’t recall you modifying the exhibits for them. Do you think being twins help them bringing out such “natural” behaviors more than singletons?
Sayuri,
Danum, the first cub born to Marcella, sometimes showed such agility and drive. But Bulan and Palu not so much. It’s likely to be simple individual variation in behavior.
When is the renovations on the Sun Bear Exhibit going to finish?
I like Sun Bears
I know you want to make the habitat safe for the bears. But since it is in their nature to climb, I question why you would not want to create an environment that enables this behavior, not frustrating it.
Your facility has great understanding of animal behavior. So I wonder why your knowledge of sun bears arboreal tendencies would used to control this activity. Wouldn’t you have happier sun bears if they were allowed to follow their natural instincts?
Mae #5,
We do try to enable climbing for the bears…INSIDE the exhibit. We have extensive climbing structures in the upper portion of the exhibit, and our keepers will place enrichment items as high as they can reach to allow the bears to encounter novel scents and treats when they take to the heights. What I meant to imply is that we are working to reduce the likelihood that the bears might use their excellent climbing skills on the perimeter of their exhibit. We don’t want to encourage climbing OUT…
Franklin #3,
We don’t have a date of completion yet.
Thank you, Suzanne, for your response to my question, #5.
I am relieved to learn that I misunderstood the habitat modifications. Shame on me for questioning the intent when I know for a fact that SDZ does all it can to provide a safe enclosure that tries to replicate the natural environment of each species. I know keepers work very hard to make enrichment items to keep the animals mentally and physically involved, and to encourage their natural behavior.
I see now that your work was really to keep humans safe from escaping sun bears! Thank you, again, for your blog and your efforts to care for these remarkable bears.
Dear Moderator,
I am not trying to be picky, but the first sentence in the last paragraph needs some grammatical correction.
“IT’S an amazing SIGHT to see…”
Best,
Grace
Moderator’s note: No offense taken. Correction made–thank you!