I have a love-hate relationship with overgrown exhibits for big cats. On one hand, they obscure and hide the animals which is obviously annoying, on the other though they add to the mystery and emulate what it would be like to see one in the wild. For example, Australia Zoo's Tiger exhibit is heavily manicured so imo doesn't sell the elusive nature of tigers well, it can make them feel almost domesticated. Whereas Adelaide's exhibits are a little too overgrown resulting in visitors getting frustrated and easily bored.
@Swanson02 I feel the same. Auckland Zoo have a spectacular complex, but you never see the tigers. Their individual personality does influence this to a point. Hamilton Zoo’s first tigers were 1.2 siblings (born at Wellington). Only the male was confident and could be reliably seen in their well vegetated exhibit.
You can Bashi in the far distance (top, centre), but he also came up to the Ivy bank and then right up to the viewing glass. He was handraised/peer raised and is a very confident cat.
