It's not that small. Also most of the islands for bears in other zoos are not much bigger (they just seem bigger, cause the moat), but there is often not so much to climb like in this cage.
But i agree: It could be much bigger and much better.
Great Exhibit for sunbears, the bears have everything they need, enough space, a lot of hiding places, a big waterpool, many,many climbing oppurtunties, they can climb very high, a lot of places for sunbathes, and it contains unbelivable lots of enrichment.And its so big, the bears have so much space....And they breeding so successful, it must be a great exhibit for them. Hey, all fur animals are breeding very successful also in the fur animals farms, so I think, they feel fine in the tiny little cages...
By the way, this was ironic. This isn't an exhibit for bears,its a garbage place.
@Zebraduiker: I like your comments! Believe it or not there are a few individuals on ZooChat who probably think that this sun bear exhibit is acceptable in the 21st century. The educational value of looking at bears behind bars in a small cage must be incredible.
@snow leoaprd. I'm happy you understood ironic comments...Many people don't nowadays...There is nothing good to say about this sun bear keeping. The zood irector of Berlin both zoos is defenitely the wrong man in that position.
He has a huge park, the animal park has 160 hectares, this are 400 acres ! He could have the best zoo in germany, but look the pictures, and you will see a poor keeping of big cats, elephants, manatees, primates and much more...
@Zebraduiker: I agree with you when you say that there are poor exhibits at the two zoos, but the collection is incredible in Berlin. I suppose that many zoo fans are only concerned with whether the animals look healthy, and the rarity of the species. Many individuals don't appear to mind that there are still bars, cages and grottoes for some animals.
Your never-ever-ever-ending railing about both Berlin Zoos more and more reminds me of Cato the Elder's most famous phrase. Yours might be "Ceterum autem censeo, vivaria Berlinae esse delenda..." I assume that Cato also never visited Carthago in person...
Outer appearance/exterieur is just one of many factors to evaluate the health of an animal; "rarity" is a matter of opinion and quite variable, therefore not that of a worthy criterion...
Does the exhibit above fulfill all demands of modern husbandry guidelines? Probably not. Is Dr. BB sometimes a stubborn blockhead? Most certainly.
Yet unfortunately, the situation isn't much better in many zoos worldwide, especially behind the scenes. Among others, due to (useful???) monument conservation and BB's strange taste in regard to animal houses (like the monkey house at the Tierpark...) , Berlins' zoos sometimes expose their dirty underwear, while other zoos hide theirs behind tons of fake rockwork and plastic plants. In both cases, the animals and the staff draw the blank...
Let's wait what Blaskiewitz's successor will do. Given BB's chronically cantankerous relationship with some local politians and the press, that might be sooner the case than expected...
