Automatic Polar Bear Feeder
Problem statement
Polar bears under stress or anxiety can exhibit anticipatory behavior. This is when the bear will pace back and forth exhibiting their typical hunting behavior, but without any food being present [1]. At Henry Vilas Zoo, one polar bear has a bald spot from repetitively rubbing his face against a wall while pacing. Zoos have already seen success in automated feeders for reducing the anticipatory behavior of grizzly bears [2]. Therefore, our client is studying if such feeders are able to reduce the anticipatory behavior of polar bears. Since zookeepers leave at around 5pm and don’t come back until 6am, there are 13 hours during which the animals don’t get any food. To fix this, staff have been reaching out to find an automated feeder for their polar bears that will allow them to get food at 3am when they are waking up. Our client currently produces several automated feeders for zoos, but none of them are adequate to feed a polar bear [3]. There are currently zero products on the market that can automatically scatter frozen fish around a polar bear exhibit.
References:
[1] E. J. Fernandez, ‘Appetitive search behaviors and stereotypies in polar bears (Ursus maritimus),’ Behav. Processes, vol. 182, p. 104299, Jan. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104299.
[2] N. L. P. Andrews and J. C. Ha, ‘The effects of automated scatter feeders on captive grizzly bear activity budgets,’ J. Appl. Anim. Welf. Sci. JAAWS, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 148-156, 2014, doi: 10.1080/10888705.2013.856767.
[3] ‘Timed Feeders,’ Zoo Enrichment Lab. Accessed: Sep. 28, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://zooenrichmentlab.com/store/timed-feeders
Team members
Runze Shi – leader
Jason Richards – communicator
Zhiheng Chen – accountant
Jiayi Zeng – admin
Client
Sarah Feliciano
Zoo Enrichment Lab