So visitors to the conservation centre look at the sun bears through black metal bars? And I thought that the Berlin Zoo's bear cages were awful! At the RSCC the bears do have loads of natural substrate, which is terrific, but the small size and terrible visitor viewing definitely make it a dodgy enclosure.
Well the bars don't affect the well being of the bears...
And it is a bit small, I agree, although it is twice the size of what this picture shows, and you can view them from a viewing platform that lets you see over the fence.
If the bars do not affect the well-being of the bears, which I admit could well be correct, than why not have black metal bars on many animal exhibits? Just create line after line of hotwire like in the RSCC's sun bear exhibit, and slap an ugly metal fence around the enclosure. If zoos all over the world are attempting to replicate to some small degree the natural environment of their animals than this conservation centre obviously fails miserably in all of their enclosures. However, if the establishment is there to either make money or promote breeding facilities without bothering with the asethetics of truly great zoo habitats than I really should not criticize. It is succeeding in showcasing exotic animals, but it is just that many of the exhibits appear as if they were constructed on an extremely tight budget. Not many individuals will truly appreciate the sun bears, or any other animal for that matter, by peering over or through a brutally ugly set of bars. It is a cage like this one that gives ammunition to the anti-zoo lobbyists, and the zoos that have beautifully designed sun bear exhibits are the zoos that do not have individuals complaining about small, sterile enclosures. Gone are the days where zoos erected metal bars to house bears, and yet the RSCC is only a few years old and already the place is decades out of touch with the modern zoo world. The sun bear cage could have been built in the 1950's, and wouldn't the bears and everyone here on ZooChat rather have a spacious, naturalistic, modern exhibit instead of an ugly cage?
What is the 'natural substrate' currently being used on the floor of this enclosure? Does anyone know what the cubbing facilities or service enclosures look like? Or maybe these will be constructed when the bears are older.
What is the 'natural substrate' currently being used on the floor of this enclosure? Does anyone know what the cubbing facilities or service enclosures look like? Or maybe these will be constructed when the bears are older.
The natural substrate is actually the original soil on which the climbing apparatus was built. I was talking with the keepers and they said that this was intentional to allow them to engage in natural digging behavior (which is why it looks pretty dug up much of the time).
