Residing in the northern most parts of North America, Europe, and Asia, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a carnivorous mammal living on arctic parks of ice. Being carnivores in the arctic, they feast mainly on seals in the region. A female polar bear can have a litter up to three to four cubs; however, twin births are the most common within polar bears. Visually, both males and females have the same exterior properties such was white fur and the elongated face. Other various features that makes them the same Sexual dimorphism is common within the species, and the males are both larger in height and weight compared to the females. It is also a contributing factor with determining a mate. To test if sexual dimorphism correlates with mate choosing…show more content… They were studied from July to August in 1989 and data was recorded between six activities; lying, sititng, swimming variably, swimming in stereotyped laps, walking in stereotyped paths, or walking variably. Each activity was scored based on the percentage of time each polar bear spent doing each activity. He collected secondary data every time one of the one of the animals completed a stereotypical lap which were determined when they would put there paw in a determined spot. What he found is that the subjects spent different amounts of time displaying stereotypical behavior. Two polar bears displayed their stereotypies during the day, and the other one would increase his throughout the afternoon. Wechsler concluded his study with, stereotypies are a substantial part of captive polar bears, throughout the day the walking stereotypies are both fixed spatially and temporally, the speed of walking can be determined by how aroused the individual is, and walking stereotypies are possibly due to frustrated appetitive behavior, and not frustrated…show more content… This was tested by Katherine Greenwald and Lisa Dabek (2002), where they collected data through video cameras in the maternity den of a polar bear in the Rodger Williams Zoo Park. The subject they studied was a female polar bear cub. The video cameras were used to record the cub in captivity from 0-3 months old in the den, and outdoors when they were 4-12 months old. They focused on four categories of den behaviors displayed by the cub, and divided each int three levels: full contact with the mother, partial contact with the mother, and no contact. During the change of the denning period, contact levels with the mother changed. The management of the zoo had a great behavioral impact on the cub as well. Since they are living in a captive environment, the number of enrichment items in the environment affected the behavior of the cub. If there were not enough items to interact with, it would result in the cub having low levels of behavior. When they became more active, the amount of time she spent in contact with her mother decreased. As she grew older they gained more independence, and did not need the mother as much compared to a cub in the wild (Greenwald & Dabek,
