There are plans to demolish this exhibit, as it is apparently not up to Woodland Park's high standards. The #1 problem with this enclosure is that visitors barely ever see the sun bears, and I once kept track and had a clear image of a sun bear on about 3 occasions out of around 20 zoo visits! The bears simply remain off of public view except for rare occasions, and so within the next few years this enclosure is due to be history. A new Asian Forest complex (sumatran tigers, sun bears, sloth bears, etc) is in the works as long as the finances are in place.
The "Asian Forest" area (tigers and bears) is the #1 major priority of the zoo, and there will be attempts to design the exhibit during the latter half of 2010. In 2011 there will be fundraising events, and donations will be encouraged from large businesses. The "Asian Highlands" zone has most definitely been pushed onto the long-term backburner, which is really too bad as the "Northern Trail" loop needs to be eventually completed in the zoo's masterplan.
