It is kind of staggering to browse through the Milwaukee County Zoo's photos in the ZooChat gallery as it is tempting to imagine the sheer weight of the thousands of pounds of mock-rock that seems to dominate so many of the enclosures. The animal collection at the zoo is highly impressive, there is a representation of just about every living organism one would wish to see, but so many of the exhibits remind me of San Antonio or other zoos where the dominant theme is the oppressive rockwork. Milwaukee opened its ape house in 1992 and since then it has been 19 years and while the zoo has made numerous minor improvements there has not been anything major added in that time period. The bear grottoes have practically zero natural substrate, which is in stark contrast to more modern enclosures where bears have almost 100% natural substrate in zoos. Hagenbeck would be proud of Milwaukee, but its time of relevancy ended in the 1970's when I've heard that it was one of America's best zoos.
I sure hope the zoo has plans for the bear grottos. In my opinion, if all of Milwaukee's bear grottos were replaced by grassy forest-edge exhibits (along with a brand new appropriate polar bear exhibit across from the caribou) and glass windows for viewing, then that would be great! However, the zoo seems to be satisfied with its master plan, and that may not happen. Though there is the possibility of the underwater hippo exhibit opening in the future, beginning a potential renaissance for the Zoo's pachyderms. I have my fingers crossed.
Unfortunately, the "trees" that were added to the exhibit for the renovation are similar to the one on the left part of this photo; the ones that were added though have more branches that reach out - good for climbing opportunities, but I was expecting some of the concrete to be taken out, and some dirt and grass with planted trees to take its place.
By the way, I would have a photo of the trees, but I ran out of space on my camera - maybe next trip.
