Nutrition Handbook
Thanks to a series of workshops funded by PBI, a comprehensive manual on the nutritional needs of captive polar bears is now available free of charge on the PBI Web site. The 66-page document covers everything from the basic dietary needs of captive bears to sample menus. "People have been anxious to get this information," says Barbara Lintzenich, chair of the American Zoo Association's Nutrition Advisory Group (NAG) and team director of the project. "They're very pleased by how detailed it is."
Five nutrition experts worked as a team to write the bulk of the document. In addition to Lintzenich (Cincinnati Zoo), the five main authors include Ann Ward (Fort Worth Zoo), Dr. Mark Edwards (National Zoo), Dr. Mark Griffith (Purina Mills), and Dr. Charlie Robbins (Washington State University). Kerri Slifka and Krista Jacobsen of the Brookfield Zoo contributed a chapter on the nutritional needs of hand-reared cubs.
"We decided to fund this initiative after PBI's International Polar Bear Husbandry Conference highlighted the fact that there were a lot of unanswered questions about captive polar bear nutrition," says Robert J. Wilson, PBI's chairman of the board. "Our goal was to produce a manual with in-depth guidelines."
Team members met four times after the 2004 conference to work on the project. At the first meeting, in April 2004, they outlined the basic questions to be answered and parceled out the work according to expertise. They shared their findings at the second meeting and identified areas of the document in need of fine-tuning. At the third meeting, they reviewed those findings before compiling the information into one huge document, which they pored over for accuracy, line by line.
Dr. Randi Meyerson of the Toledo Zoo, who chairs the American Zoo Association's Polar Bear Species Survival Plan (SSP), says that the manual not only provides guidance about what to feed captive polar bears, but covers different feeding methods that can stimulate the bears psychologically.
"The SSP felt really fortunate to be able to partner with PBI on this," she says. "It's an important document that meets both physiological and psychological needs. We all want what's best for the bears."
Now that the nutrition manual has been completed, Robert Buchanan, PBI's president, says that the organization plans to fund a series of workshops on polar bear fur. "That's another area of concern with captive bears," says Lintzenich. "Some zoos have solved fur problems [for example, fur loss or thinning] through diet. In other cases, fur problems turn out to be a water-quality issue or a hormonal issue. We'd like to look into all these factors."
Five nutrition experts worked as a team to write the bulk of the document. In addition to Lintzenich (Cincinnati Zoo), the five main authors include Ann Ward (Fort Worth Zoo), Dr. Mark Edwards (National Zoo), Dr. Mark Griffith (Purina Mills), and Dr. Charlie Robbins (Washington State University). Kerri Slifka and Krista Jacobsen of the Brookfield Zoo contributed a chapter on the nutritional needs of hand-reared cubs.
"We decided to fund this initiative after PBI's International Polar Bear Husbandry Conference highlighted the fact that there were a lot of unanswered questions about captive polar bear nutrition," says Robert J. Wilson, PBI's chairman of the board. "Our goal was to produce a manual with in-depth guidelines."
Team members met four times after the 2004 conference to work on the project. At the first meeting, in April 2004, they outlined the basic questions to be answered and parceled out the work according to expertise. They shared their findings at the second meeting and identified areas of the document in need of fine-tuning. At the third meeting, they reviewed those findings before compiling the information into one huge document, which they pored over for accuracy, line by line.
Dr. Randi Meyerson of the Toledo Zoo, who chairs the American Zoo Association's Polar Bear Species Survival Plan (SSP), says that the manual not only provides guidance about what to feed captive polar bears, but covers different feeding methods that can stimulate the bears psychologically.
"The SSP felt really fortunate to be able to partner with PBI on this," she says. "It's an important document that meets both physiological and psychological needs. We all want what's best for the bears."
Now that the nutrition manual has been completed, Robert Buchanan, PBI's president, says that the organization plans to fund a series of workshops on polar bear fur. "That's another area of concern with captive bears," says Lintzenich. "Some zoos have solved fur problems [for example, fur loss or thinning] through diet. In other cases, fur problems turn out to be a water-quality issue or a hormonal issue. We'd like to look into all these factors."
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