Captive Bears Expert Team Co-chair

Marion is a behavioural biologist who has studied bears in European zoos and rescue centres in Southeast Asia for more than 20 years. Her diploma thesis focused on foraging behaviour in Malayan sun bears. The subject of her PhD thesis was autonomic and behavioural thermoregulation in polar bears and sun bears. In 2015, she joined the NGO Free the Bears where she has conducted ethological studies on sun bears and Asiatic black bears in Vietnam and Lao PDR. Her current research focuses on the assessment of stress by behavioural observations and hair cortisol measurements in Asiatic black bears and sun bears, and ethological assessments for the identification of orphaned Asiatic black bear cubs suitable for future reintroduction into their natural habitat. In 2017, Marion became a member of the BSG's Captive Bears Expert Team and also the Sun Bear Expert Team. For 2 decades she has worked as a voluntary zoo educator and teaches biology at a secondary school in Germany, with focus on nature conservation education. Marion serves as Research Advisor for the EAZA Bear Taxon Advisory Group and is the Ex situ management focal point for the Sun Bear Conservation Action Plan, aiming to integrate ex situ and in situ conservation efforts through conservation relevant research.