Zoo Biology. 2019;1–7. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/zoo © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 1 Received: 11 November 2018 | Revised: 17 June 2019 | Accepted: 26 July 2019 DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21512 RESEARCH ARTICLE The Andean bear alopecia syndrome may be caused by social housing Russell C. Van Horn Q1 Q2 1 | Meg Sutherland‐Smith 2 | Andrés E. Bracho Sarcos 3 | Gaylene Thomas 4 | Jacob A. Shanks 4 | Megan A. Owen 1 1 Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California 2 Veterinary Services, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California 3 SENA – National Learning Service, Regional Meta, Agroindustrial Center of Meta, Granada, Meta, Colombia 4 Collections and Husbandry Services, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California Correspondence Russell C. Van Horn, Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, PO Box 120551, San Diego, CA 92112‐0551. Email: rvanhorn@sandiegozoo.org Funding information San Diego Zoo Global Q3 Abstract The Andean bear alopecia syndrome is a progressive and chronic condition documented in ex situ populations. Recent advances focus on treating symptoms, not preventing future cases. We therefore explored the epidemiology of this syndrome through an analysis of husbandry and veterinary conditions of 63 Andean bears (26M:37F) housed in North and South American zoos and other ex situ circumstances. We had the most complete information for the North American population and found that 29% of females (n= 24) were affected. No males (n= 26) were affected. An analysis of generalized linear models indicated that three models were competitive in describing the occurrence of the condition (i.e., ΔAIC c ≤ 2): the model including only the individual’s sex (χ 2 =13.41, df=1, p < .001), the model including both individual sex and social housing status (χ 2 =1.36, df=2, p < .001), and the model including both individual sex and the expression of stereotypical behaviors (χ 2 =13.82, df=2, p =.001). Stereotypical behaviors were common among both males (50%, n = 26) and females (51.9%, n = 27) whether or not they were affected, but the syndrome was seen only in females who had been socially housed. Therefore, we suggest that the Andean bear alopecia syndrome is a symptomatic response to the long‐term social housing of bears that would otherwise not live socially. To prevent new cases, we recommend that female Andean bears be housed with adult conspecifics only when females choose to cohabitate. KEYWORDS alopecia, captivity, epidemiology, ex situ, Tremarctos ornatus 1 | INTRODUCTION Modern zoological institutions manage their collections in pursuit of several objectives which require resources and face constraints: education, outreach and engagement, sustainable management of the ex situ population, and support for in situ research and conservation (e.g., Gilbert & Soorae, 2017; Jensen, Moss, & Gusset, 2017). Unfortunately, six of the eight extant bear species are of conserva- tion concern (IUCN Operations Intelligence Center, 1964; www.iucn. org), thus zoo‐housed bears—charismatic and popular among zoo visitors—may be effective conservation ambassadors for their wild counterparts. The Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is among these vulnerable species, being of conservation concern both in situ (Velez‐ Liendo & Garcia‐Rangel, 2017) and ex situ (e.g., Silver, Connolly, & Groome Bryan, 2017). Although Andean bears have been of global conservation concern since 1964 (IUCN Operations Intelligence Center), and despite decades of field research (e.g., Grimwood, 1968; Mondolfi, 1989; Peyton, 1980, 1984; Suárez, 1988), relatively few 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 Journal MSP No. Dispatch: August 05, 2019 CE: ZOO 21512 No. of Pages: 7 PE: Akanksha Bhandari