Distinct fecal microbiome between wild and habitat-housed captive polar bears (Ursus maritimus): Impacts of captivity and dietary shifts
Jing Lu, Renee Petri, Dylan McCart, Amy Baxendell-Young, Stephanie Anne Collins · 2024
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Description
Jing Lu and co-authors compare gut microbes of wild and captive polar bears in this 2024 paper. Captive bears in habitat housing had eaten a high protein diet for a long time. Wild bears eat a varied diet that includes brown seaweed. Captivity and diet shifts may reshape the gut community, with health effects.
Stool samples were profiled with gene based methods. Captive bears held a more diverse gut community than wild bears. Several bacterial groups were higher in captive bears, and two groups were absent there. Which bear a sample came from mattered more than season or year. Adding seaweed to the captive diet shifted the community only partly. The work informs feeding choices for bears in human care.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Jing Lu, Renee Petri, Dylan McCart, Amy Baxendell-Young, Stephanie Anne Collins |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2024 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 48 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |