@ PAT - the exhibit is inadequate for any animal including this bear, but since Hum is so old and she out lived the rest of her family ( 2 other bears ) you wouldn't think she would do much. I would also think this would go for the 2 Asian Black Bears on the other side, but it is totally inadequate for the younger couple of grizzlies. There is a lot of toys, boxes full of treats, bones, frozen rabbits and quail, and other entertaining stuff, but Hum is usually sleeping instead of playing with it. I have only seen her about 10 times at Denver Zoo and all those times she is just chilling on a rock or sun bathing. She is getting very old and frail. It's at the point where Denver Zoo thinks she can go any time. Her outside access is very limited because of this.
Are there any good examples of more appropriate reuse of old bear grottoes? Other than the Coatis next door to this one. I am having a hard time thinking of any. Maybe filling in the moat and redesigning for access for visitors into the grotto space would be a good technique of keeping the historic rockwork, while establishing a series of more intimate exhibits in the middle for meerkats, iguanas, etc...species that can be contained in low walled exhibits created in the former grotto floor space.
Tulsa has re-purposed one old bear grotto as a home for a troop of black&white ruffed lemurs. I believe it was done by by placing a layer of soil adequate to support grass over a large part of the old concrete. Snow Leopard has some good photos of it in the Tulsa gallery. http://www.zoochat.com/1247/black-white-ruffed-lemur-grotto-170312/
If this exhibit had been 10x larger with dirt flooring, and a bigger pool, it would've made a world of difference. Funny how "small" zoo designers envisioned space for so many large animals back then.
@Blackduiker - you are quite right. I have an old guide book on Denver and theres a colored blueprint of what they envisioned Bear Mountain to look like, it was much more bigger than it is now. They decided it would be best to make this exhibit look like Mesa Verde. I don't have any clue why that is, Especially since I haven't herd of Grizzly Bears, Polar Bears, and Monkeys climbing around on an old indian camp, but it truly is a beautiful exhibit.
