Wow, this is an amazing exhibit! I remember seeing it on TV when it came out in Animal Planet in the Ultimate Zoo show back in 2004 and it also looked amazing. Do you know the size of the exhibit?
The entire complex is 4.5 acres, but I don't know how much of that is the space for the bears. The seal pool, visitor pathways, etc all make up the entire set of habitats. It's still one of the very best exhibits that I've ever seen.
All 3 sections of this exhibit are excellent, and that's why it's the best of its kind on the planet. The pack ice above is massive, the tunnel viewing area is breathtaking, and the huge grassy field is probably the best of the lot. There are lots of photos in the gallery of this outstanding habitat, and it's one exhibit I wouldn't mind visiting on a snowy day!
@Sun Wukong: the only polar bear exhibit that has ever been raised on ZooChat that is ever remotely close to Detroit's has been the Scandinavian Wildlife Park. Any others that you know of that can compete with the Arctic Ring of Life?
Its nowhere near as good as Arctic Ring of Life, but San Diego has a really nice polar bear exhibit. Last time I went all the bears were playing in a mud-hole. Toledo also has a really good Polar Bear exhibit.
Yes-at least one of the future Polar Bear zoo exhibits that are going to be built in the next one or two decades (unless Polar Bear keeping has become illegal till then...). And I can predict that then some future zoofriends will bash and harshly animadvert the then old-fashioned 'Artic Ring of Life' exhibits, judging solely from the visitor's point of view, and ask: "How could they ever build such ghastly, terrible animal prisons?!?! The one in zoo X is so much nicer!"
Unless we will see considerable improvements in regard to the animals kept within over a longer (!) period of time, I would stop praising new exhibits-and trying to rank everything and everyone...
@Sun Wukong: there are more than one hundred members of ZooChat that at one time or another have ranked zoos or exhibits worldwide, and books like "America's Best Zoos" are stockpiled with ranking systems for the 25 best exhibits, 10 best zoos for Asian animals, 10 best zoos for birds, and loads of other categories. It is human nature for many people to place items in an order of most desired or best/worst, and how many threads are on this site discussing the best hippo pool, best overall zoo, best tiger exhibit...and this list could go on all day so don't ever expect myself and others to stop ranking exhibits. Good luck with that one, haha! In the future the Arctic Ring of Life exhibit at the Detroit Zoo will become outdated, but at this moment in time it is the best polar bear enclosure on the planet. Once something better comes along then we can all judge this 2001 exhibit and complain about it, but for the past 8 years now the Detroit Zoo is #1 for polar bears!!! I only wish the zoo had the funding to create a few more incredible enclosures...
