Distinct fecal microbiome between wild and habitat-housed captive polar bears (Ursus maritimus): Impacts of captivity and dietary shifts

Understanding the gut microbiome of polar bears can shed light on the effects of climate change-induced prolonged ice-free seasons on their health and nutritional status as a sentinel species. The fecal microbiome of habitat-housed captive polar bears who had consumed a high protein diet long-term was compared with that of the wild population. Individual differences, season, year and dietary inclusion of a brown seaweed (Fucus spiralis; part of the natural diet of wild polar bears), as a representation for nutritional change, were investigated for their effects on the fecal microbiome of captive polar bears. Microbial variations among fecal samples from wild and captive polar bears were investigated using 16s rRNA gene based metataxonomic profiling. The captive bears exhibited more diverse fecal microbiota than wild bears (p<0.05). The difference was due to significantly increased Firmicutes, Campilobacterota and Fusobacteriota, decreased Actinobacteriota (p<0.05), and absent Bdellovibrionota and Verrucomicrobiota in the captive bears. Compared with other factors, individual variation was the main driver of differences in fecal microbial composition in the captive bears. Seaweed consumption did not alter microbial diversity or composition, but this did not rule out dietary influences on the hosts. This is the first study, to the best of our knowledge, comparing the fecal microbiota of captive and wild polar bears and it reveals distinct differences between the two groups, which could result from many factors, including available food sources and the ratio of dietary macronutrients. Our findings provide preliminary insights into climate-change induced dietary shifts in polar bears related to climate-associated habitat change.