It is startling at how almost everything in the photo is unnatural, to the point where the exhibit resembles some kind of twisted modernist creation that places a majestic polar bear in a totally incongruous location. The beckoning high-rise as a backdrop, the SeaWorld-style fake ice cliffs, the stone steps and glass partitions, the sea of cement and the solitary tire...everything is hard, solid and harsh except for the solitary animal. A bizarre, poor exhibit.
I agree that for the bear it's a poor enclosure; one of the most obvious issues is that if the softest (and only) solid substrate is concrete, the enclosure isn't much different to many much poorer-looking ones that we've seen.
It would have been nice to see more enrichment opportunities too (there's another tyre out-of-frame).
I wonder if we'd have been so critical if the rockwork was more tasteful, though.
@snowleopard As far as I know there is a grassy section to this exhibit that is actually a second yard for the bears. But yeah, the predominant substrate is concrete.
