"Fairly naturalistic"--hmmm. I'm still looking for a place in nature where there's a glass wall holding back a pond. Yes zoos do it all the time between visitors and animals, but I find it distinctly weird to have such a setup INSIDE an animal habitat. I think this odd detail really detracts from an otherwise okay exhibit for tigers (although it's poorly designed in terms of encouraging animals to actually be visible to the public)
No, it's part of the tiger pool water system--it's like one of those "infinity edge" pools, as water spills over the glass into the pond below. The tigers can swim in either the upper or lower pools. I guess it might allow someone standing where the photo was taken from to see a tiger swimming in the upper pool, but it's still just kind of weird.
