Somewhat what I was thinking about...
Indeed the enclosure looks a good size as far as I could tell...
But it does look very mechanical and sterile.
I recall earlier this year visiting a certain estate in the UK which, like many others in the country was being 'rewilded' - i.e. allowing for nature to somewhat literally take its course. In place of animals now extinct; and animals deemed too dangerous to have on public footpath by law; were primitive domestic breeds - domestics yes; but they engineered the environment in much a similar way to what their wild counterparts would do. And as a result, in large parts from their intervention and some parts human intervention, the landscape has become unrecognisable from when it was a farm before - before that was done with as it was deemed unprofitable to farm there.
There are still some roadblocks in place - there are no predators on site - it is too small to host wolves and legislature in the UK is still murky regarding lynx [and for that matter; wolf] introduction. So to control animal populations there are annual culls - which brings the estate profit as the animal flesh can be sold as meat - which is some of the most ecologically-friendly meat available. But perhaps now would be a good point to digress.
The point I was trying to make was that here I could see just how everything was working in co-operation to engineer the environment - and brought to mind what a few zoos in the UK are doing; allowing for animals, in some degree, to reshape their own environment - and also bringing zoological scientists closer to perfecting animal husbandry - almost by the molecule. And so I think that this could very well be the next step in zoo construction - changing the question from how to construct animal exhibits to that of animal habitats. Under such a thought experiment there will be many new questions to arrive, many of which I'm sure will have interesting answers.
Here, however, the development seems to lack the possibility for bears to express even basic ecological behaviours. And here I think some imagination would be good in making a slightly more interesting exhibit or even habitat - asking questions like - given the sloth bears sometimes dig for grubs to eat, how can we incorporate that into our habitat? What other interesting things do sloth bears do in their habitats that we can show here? How do sloth bears shape their habitat? What kind of terrain do sloth bears prefer? How can we incorporate these things as an interesting, thought-provoking display?
@snowleopard It's the new exhibit sheen for me. Whatever happened to zoos being patient and letting their exhibits sit and establish before letting the animals roam about?
@DelacoursLangur 'round these parts, it's a sign of activity-based design. Based on an equal mix of value-engineering as well as a want to maintain flexibility in a zoo's collection. If one bear species is being phased out (not my beloved sun and Asian black bears), another can easily take its place - at least the replacements are cool, and they do need more holders/spaces. That said, I am glad these bear habitats are rotational, which does allow for a more stimulating environment for the sloth and Andean bears. I wouldn't be surprised if Philly did something similar as a rejuvenation of Bear Country (please maintain a moat, please maintain a moat...)
Even once the enclosures have had time to grow in, I can't ever picture this as being a worthwhile addition. The manicured lawns and sporadic rock piles are already odd choices, but what's really bizarre to me are the random slabs of concrete that dot the area. There may be four enclosures, but all of them are so small and basic in design. Are they better than the old enclosures? Marginally, but the zoo really squandered the opportunity to do something interesting for their tropical bears.
With that said, thank you for the photos @CMZman. These bear yards are extremely underwhelming, but I always appreciate when someone posts updated photos shortly after a new exhibit opens.
