There is the ZooLex link to this AZA Best Exhibit Award winner. All of the information that you'd want is on that link, and there are also a lot of photos that I've uploaded into the ZooChat gallery in the past. There are arctic foxes and seals in separate enclosures, but for the polar bears in Detroit there are 3 large habitats. One of them is primarily sprayed, rugged concrete (in the photo above) and is massive in size but arguably the weakest of the three enclosures. A second area has a huge pool with the walk-through tunnel going into it, and the last area is a grassy meadow with another large pool. The photos in the gallery and on the ZooLex link will give you an indication of the overall impression of the habitat. I'm intrigued by the fact that the 4.2 acre Arctic area opened 8 years ago and there really isn't a single zoo that has come close to replicating Detroit's polar habitat.
It would be hard to replicate this exhibit in a zoo that has a warmer climate. Could you imagine if the Gold Coast Seaworld gave it's polar bears a grassy field...They would die from overheating. I think this exhibit is amazing.
@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 In the future the Arctic Ring of Life exhibit at the Detroit Zoo will become outdated, but at this moment in time it is the best polar bear enclosure on the planet.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...
1. "100"? I doubt that figure...And even that doesn't prove anything, as it seems that quite a majority of that "ranking" is merely based on the outer appearance of an exhibit from the visitor's point of view.
2. " "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." Similar situation; additionally, the factual qualification of some of the authors of these books can be rightfully challenged...
3. "don't ever expect myself and others to stop ranking exhibits. Good luck with that one, haha!" If you feel such an urgent desire to rank anything, go ahead; but make sure that you actually know the parameters you want to evaluate...You don't gain factual knowledge about zoo biology, husbandry, working conditions, management, exhibit design etc. by just walking through a (or hundreds) zoo for half a day as a visitor. By doing so, you can make some generalized observation (does the majority of the animals look physiologically healthy? Are the custom services satisfying?...) Otherwise, everyone who has watched all Bruce Lee movies could claim to be a martial arts master...
So I will continue with my tilting at windmills, even if some find that "most annoying"..
And about that #1 claim: as long as I haven't heard the staff's and the polar bears') ) opinion about it after a longer period of time, I still doubt this assumption.
For example:
One critical aspect could be the water bassins of bears and seals, illustrated here in various pics: recent factual evaluations, presented at the AAZW conference 2008, reveal that a lot of the bassins for seals and sea lions in American zoos aren't optimal in regard to the health of the animals. Fake rocks store much more heat from the sun and radiate more of it into the bassin than normal rocks-which increases the danger of seals (which only have a rather limited thermodynamic compensation system) overheating. Bright clear bassins with light-coloured floors increase the likelihood of chronic eye damage, again due to increasing the sun ray reflection...etc etc. In this regard, the Danish example appears tocome in more handy-and that with a surely more cost-efficient budget.
Other than a few suggestions in regards to the Scandinavian Wildlife Park, ever since 2001 the Arctic Ring of Life set of habitats has been the zoo industry's premier polar bear/seal complex. The question that remains is how many more years will go by before a zoo creates an even better polar bear exhibit? Now that the Calgary Zoo has officially shelved its plans there are not many contenders for such an intriguing mega-project. There are polar bear enclosures due to be created, but none of them appear to have the size and scope that the Detroit Zoo offers.
