This Sloth Bear exhibit is actually a reworking of a 1950's era grotto that held Sun Bears for many years. The Sun Bears were hardly ever seen by the public as they tended to pace at the back of the enclosure and eventually they were shipped out to Virginia Zoo. A tremendous amount of greenery has been removed from the exhibit, new rock formations have been added, and now it is home to Sloth Bears and that species has side-by-side enclosures that opened in 2015 but are not that different from what they originally looked like. Large viewing windows have been added at one end but the lack of foliage is alarming. It might be worth mentioning that the new Sloth Bear exhibits at the zoo might be regarded as disappointing in the minds of zoo nerds everywhere.
Check out the photo below if you are interested in seeing what the exhibit looked like in 2010:
From the photos it looks like they just denuded the exhibit of plants and some of the climbing furniture. Is that really all they did to change the exhibit?
From the photos it looks like they just denuded the exhibit of plants and some of the climbing furniture. Is that really all they did to change the exhibit?
That is basically it. There are viewing windows at one end of this exhibit (and adjoining the second Sloth Bear enclosure) but the alterations made to this part of the zoo are quite minor.
If you were to tell me this was a sloth bear exhibit that has been around for a bit, I would say it was quite decent. But to tell me that's the final product of the renovation, it's a huge let down.
