July 2008. This is one of the newest polar bear exhibits in North America, but it relies on the same old style that is commonly found in many older models. Fake concrete rocks, a large pool, and barely any substrate.
July 2008. This is one of the newest polar bear exhibits in North America, but it relies on the same old style that is commonly found in many older models. Fake concrete rocks, a large pool, and barely any substrate.
@mstickmanp: I agree Mario, and while Pittsburgh's polar bear enclosure might look quite impressive at first glance it has very little natural substrate and far too much mock-rock.
You would think it would be cheaper and easier to grow large grassy areas inside of a polar bear's exhibit, or allow the bears to indulge in lying across dirt patches, rather than build huge mock-rock ledges. However, I'm sure that it would be tough on the pool's filtration system to have dirty bears messing up the water. Detroit and Toronto both have large grassy fields as well as the typical mock-rock background, and those are probably the two largest polar bear enclosures of any major zoos across North America.
You would think it would be cheaper and easier to grow large grassy areas inside of a polar bear's exhibit, or allow the bears to indulge in lying across dirt patches, rather than build huge mock-rock ledges. However, I'm sure that it would be tough on the pool's filtration system to have dirty bears messing up the water. Detroit and Toronto both have large grassy fields as well as the typical mock-rock background, and those are probably the two largest polar bear enclosures of any major zoos across North America.
Expensive filtration systems are no excuse for keeping bears on concrete. If zoos do not want to build adequate exhibits, they should send their polar bears elsewhere.
@redpanda: I agree 100%! I've had debates with people who think that keeping bears and big cats in grottoes in a zoo is better than not having them at all, but I completely disagree. Just before the 1996 Summer Olympics the zoo in Atlanta bulldozed its bear grottoes and that cleaned up the worst section of the zoo. Some folks believe that bears in grottoes are better than nothing, but what is the point in keeping animals in crappy surroundings? The shameful aspect of this Pittsburgh Zoo exhibit is that it is practically brand new!
Amen to that - and what I was aiming at with my post was that surely even in an old style grotto, it would be pretty easy to create at least one little spot with gravel (or whatever soft substrate) for the bears to dig into and in which food could be hidden.
@redpanda: I agree 100%! I've had debates with people who think that keeping bears and big cats in grottoes in a zoo is better than not having them at all, but I completely disagree. Just before the 1996 Summer Olympics the zoo in Atlanta bulldozed its bear grottoes and that cleaned up the worst section of the zoo. Some folks believe that bears in grottoes are better than nothing, but what is the point in keeping animals in crappy surroundings? The shameful aspect of this Pittsburgh Zoo exhibit is that it is practically brand new!
The stupid thing is that I'd imagine a larger grassy exhibit with a few real boulders would have cost a similar amount to this. Not only would it provide a more humane environment to the bears, but also give visitors a more ecologically realistic view of wild polar bears.
