It is too small for a bear and most people are now used to seeing bears in open enclosures, obviously a cage looks worse. Also, with a leopard you'd be able to place far more climbing equipment in here as it would not need to be as sturdy as what would be required by a bear.
If you think it's small then fair enough, I can't change your opinion as you have seen it and I haven't. It looks okay to me though.
Let's just wait until the new exhibit opens because, at that point, it doesn't matter what the old exhibit was. I just realized, this exhibit could be more modified because they've been doing construction and they must have accomplished something bewteen my last visit in September and last weekend. For all I know, this could be a completely different exhibit from the one I saw and could indeed be much bigger.
Oh, I doubt it will be bigger. Unfortunate, but a leopard is a cat. Cats like climbing things, especially leopards. With climbing structures to utilize, this exhibit will allow the cat some height. Brum made a good point with bears needing space to roam and forage, while leopards should be able to gain good vertical height and look over their surroundings, like they would in the wild. The Andean Bear move was the best thing they could do, as Brum said, as the exhibit was unfit for him, the viewing was horrible, he paced a lot and it was almost painful to see sometimes, and there were safety issues regarding the exhibit, as the cage is pretty old. The space could be a bit larger, but there's not much that they can do. And remember, they might just add glass, as they plan on adding new viewing areas. The leopard should arrive anytime from next month to the spring, and the exhibit should open in the spring. The main point of doing this leopard exhibit is to move the Andean Bear to a more suitable enclosure, and bring in the cats for several reasons; of course they need a popular animal to replace a bear, Amurs have a high conservation and educational value, and to update it to more modern standards for a more suitable species.
Well if that's the holding then I guess the exhibit will not be getting much bigger than this. At least there will be glass viewing. Still, I was hoping Beardsley would take down the cage and build a brande new exhibit but I guess the zoo just can't afford that yet. Hopefully both the Leopard and Pampas Plains can change that.
Well if that's the holding then I guess the exhibit will not be getting much bigger than this. At least there will be glass viewing. Still, I was hoping Beardsley would take down the cage and build a brande new exhibit but I guess the zoo just can't afford that yet. Hopefully both the Leopard and Pampas Plains can change that.
I never said that there would be glass viewing. I said that it is possible that they might include glass viewing. Please read before you post. It's nothing serious, but an important life skill.
I never said that there would be glass viewing. I said that it is possible that they might include glass viewing. Please read before you post. It's nothing serious, but an important life skill.
A couple of posts above you said that "they plan on adding new viewing areas". I must of taken this as they were deffinetly planning glass viewing dispite the fact that, earlier in that same sentence, you said "they might just add gass." I'll keep your advice in mind. I do think I meant to type should instead of will but it was late so sorry.
Since this photo gained a lot of interest (and debates among some users), I guess it might be appropiate for an update. Only 1 female leopard will be using this exhibit, giving her a lot of space to utilize. The exhibit won't be expanded.
Unfortunately, glass will not be used; on the bright side, mesh will replace this ugly chain-link.
The holding building is almost complete, and is meant to look like a cave. I'll attach photos at the bottom of this post of the current progress in both exhibits.
I'm going to guess that they're going to try to have the exhibit ready for the leopard by Memorial Day. I think that between that time they'll replace the fencing, and probably add some climbing structures into the exhibit.
Yes her name is Sophia, and she is from Saint Louis Zoo. I actually didn't think of it that way before, but it would be a good idea to allow her to climb up her housing.
