Russia's Grizzly Coast - Minnesota Zoo

July 1st, 2008.

Great graphics!

Best exhibit at the next AZA awards banquet? It could be the second consecutive year that the Minnesota Zoo is recognized for its exhibitry.

Is it just me, or do well designed, simplified graphics in zoos and aquariums really top off the experiance. I have been to some zoos and aquariums who have decent exhibits, then completly ruin it by having lame graphics using the who, what, and where approach. I love these and the National Zoo's Asian Trail Graphics.

That is a really good graphic but..... are they actually stating that the Kamchatka Brown Bear is actually a Grizzly?

Looks splendid, I'll get to see this with my own eyes in September and end of October.

Hix said:

That is a really good graphic but..... are they actually stating that the Kamchatka Brown Bear is actually a Grizzly?

Click to expand...

Hix has a very good point here! I'm sure I'll love this section even before I've seen it, but I'm still puzzled by the use of the word 'Grizzly' here; purely an American term as far as I'm aware. 'Russia's Giant Bear Coast' or simply 'Russia's Bear Coast' would have been better.

“Grizzly” is a term that is also applied to the bears of far eastern Russia from time to time.
Walking with Giants: The Grizzlies of Siberia - Introduction - Grizzly Bears | Nature

Studying Grizzly Bears in the Wild

Poverty, Poaching Threaten Kamchatka Grizzlies | The Moscow Times Archive | The Moscow Times

So, at least in America, the term “Russian Grizzly Bear” seems perfectly natural. I can’t find the references but I seem to recall seeing a genetic study somewhere that showed a large amount of similarity between bears on either side of the Bering Strait.

Thanks Ituri, you've kind of put my mind at rest; I look even more forward to see 'Russia's Grizzly Coast' now that I can assume that it was named by someone who knew what he or she was doing, not just some marketing geek.

We have all seen otherwise good theme areas which then didn't have animals to match; I understand the great San Diego Zoo is letting people down these days by dotting this and that down here and there without much thought to its origins. I remember as well being rather fond of the 'India' section at Hannover Zoo in Germany, until I found out that the Tiger on exhibit was Siberian and the Leopard was probably Chinese (at least not Indian; in Germany I think only Wuppertal has them)

Hix is right. "Grizzly" is purely an American term, in reference to the North American brown bear - but of course Americans tend to play fast and loose with the English language and re-label everything according to their own vernacular. In fact due to the Americanisation (or should that be Americanization?) of the planet it wouldn't surprise me if European brown bears become universally known as "grizzlies" in the future too. ()

So are the bears in this exhibit actually Kamchatka bears or substitute American grizzlies?