Yeah, it's funny how many zoos seem to forget that black bears can actually climb. Wow, amazing exhibit, the only bummer for me it's that all the trees are fake.
I actually love this exhibit because it's so different, and when I visited I guess that I attempted to overlook the fact that the trees were fake. It is the very first thing that visitors see when they walk into the zoo, and it is so completely different from any other black bear enclosure that it kind of took my breath away. In the morning the bears were all sleeping (2 in the trees and 2 on the ground) but later in the day when my wife and I were leaving the zoo 1 bear was still sleeping but the other 3 bears were climbing all over the place. Great, highly original exhibit.
The book America's Best Zoos calls this habitat the best exhibit in the country that only features a single animal. The black bears here at least have plenty of opportunities to climb in their home.
Oklahoma's looks MUCH better. Ditto for Northwest Trek, Audubon and Oregon. I think this is INCREDIBLY ugly, and though maybe okay for the bears (maybe--is there any natural substrate available to them?), it's terrible to have so much fake "nature" in a part of North America where the natural forest is ideal black bear habitat. No wonder Europeans criticize US zoos for over-reliance on gunite--this is an award-winner in that category of overkill. Sorry Snow Leopard--unique yes, but what does it tell visitors about wild black bears?????
Perhaps I enjoyed this exhibit because after visting so many crappy grottoes over the summer it was a joy when I came across spacious black bear habitats in places like Oklahoma, Oregon and Knoxville. The photo doesn't show the two small pools or large grassy base of the exhibit, and only the trees and various climbing structures are gunite. There are dirt digging areas, and the bears were extremely active and utilizing the climbing opportunites that are often absent in many other zoos. Inside the walk-in tunnel visitors can walk into the exhibit, and a separate cave outside has an entire wall full of bear stats and information. I'm glad that reduakari mentioned the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, as I've visited that Washington State attraction twice and am a huge fan. Naturalistic enclosures set in a massive forest.
Don't worry; European institutions also merrily employ the stuff-see for example ZOOm at Gelsenkirchen, Germany...
Doesn't mean that one should encourage that practice, though...
This looks like a great exhibit, but most definitely not the best single species exhibit. I would say Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo is the best single specie.
This looks like a great exhibit, but most definitely not the best single species exhibit. I would say Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo is the best single specie.
