Obviously the design of the exhibit is fantastic, but it is to small for my liking. About 1100sq. meters according to Zoolex. Tht is only one quarter of an acre...
It is a little small in today's zoo world, but the pool, deadwood, rocks and assorted items add up to quite a bit of enrichment. There is a larger than average off-exhibit outdoor area for the bears, and the perimeter of the enclosure is impressively hidden from visitors.
Obviously the design of the exhibit is fantastic, but it is to small for my liking. About 1100sq. meters according to Zoolex. Tht is only one quarter of an acre...
Are you kidding me? Then what is the best Grizzly Bear exhibit? A quarter acre is an enormous amount of space for a large carnivore. In my opinion this enclosure is near flawless, and anything but small.
Are you kidding me? Then what is the best Grizzly Bear exhibit? A quarter acre is an enormous amount of space for a large carnivore. In my opinion this enclosure is near flawless, and anything but small.
The Scandinavian Wildlife Park has some enormous exhibits, and there is also a 5-acre grizzly bear enclosure at the Grouse Mountain Wildlife Refuge in Vancouver, Canada.
Quite honestly, this exhibit shouldn't need to be justified as being better than a pit, as simply by looking at the photo one can tell this is a spectacular grizzly bear enclosure and undoubtedly the best in the United States. I was exaggerating to an extent when I said a quarter acre is enormous for a large carnivore, however it is very large space, and when the exhibit can offer the best life for a grizzly bear in a quarter acre it is not really necessary to make it larger just to be able to claim itself as the largest bear exhibit.
I definitely like the Seattle enclosure WAY better, as that enclosure in the picture is incredibly ugly. There is no realism in that enclosure at all. Anyone can just fence off x amount of acres of land, and that is not what constitutes a great exhibit. It makes for a good exhibit, but not an extraordinary one. The Woodland Park one actually looks like the wild forests where the bears come from.
Don't forget Northwest Trek's and Minnesota's brown bear exhibits--they also appear to be strong contenders....But Seattle's at 15 years and going strong is still fantastic.
