This is the bottom half of the black bear exhibit, while the top half offers more climbing opportunities than perhaps any other bear enclosure in North America. Not everyone likes the mock-rock, but 3 of the bears were extremely active on my visit. However, one appeared to have slept away the day.
From your description of it, I love this exhibit, snowleopard! Spent a lot of time checking it out when you first uploaded the pictures. OK, a few more natural tree stumps thrown in for good measure wouldn´t hurt, but what the hell...
As always, I like it when animals in a zoo enclosure have a 360 degree outlook on their surroundings. Can´t help but to think that this enrich them.
I think Oklahoma's enclosure is at least ten times better. No doubt this is a good black bear exhibit, but not the best. Judging from your photos I was blown away by the excellence of the Oklahoma Trail's bear exhibits. They are both over an acre and look ultra-natural. This exhibit is really ugly however I m sure it works well for the curious bears that inhabit it.
@BlackRhino: I also really love the Oklahoma City bear exhibits, and in terms of size and realism they are fantastic. There are also huge pools in those enclosures as well, and I suppose that the Knoxville Zoo is still the best in terms of climbing opportunities.
