Increasing Evidence That Bears Are Not Carnivores
hubie writes:
Given a choice, captive bears mimic mixed diets of their wild peers:
Bears are not cats or dogs, and feeding them like they are likely shortens their lives.
A new study in Scientific Reports on the diets of giant pandas and sloth bears adds more evidence that bears are omnivores like humans and need a lot less protein than they are typically fed in zoos.
"Bears are not carnivores in the strictest sense like a cat where they consume a high-protein diet," said lead author Charles Robbins, a Washington State University wildlife biology professor. "In zoos forever, whether it's polar bears, brown bears or sloth bears, the recommendation has been to feed them as if they are high-protein carnivores. When you do that, you kill them slowly."
Journal Reference:
Robbins, C.T., Christian, A.L., Vineyard, T.G. et al. Ursids evolved early and continuously to be low-protein macronutrient omnivores [open]. Sci Rep 12, 15251 (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19742-z
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