The Arctic Foxes were removed for a viewing area. Just another Kagan removal I think, I'd assume the same for the owl.
I would honestly put both up here. Arctic Ring of Life is better for the bears while Polar Frontier is better for the visitors.
You've made this claim numerous times, and it's clearly an over-exaggeration of how hard it is to actually see the bears based on your personal experience of not seeing them. I've been to Detroit multiple times and had no issues spotting a Polar Bear, as have many other people judging by the number of photos of the animals in the ZC gallery. Are they guaranteed to be seen? No, but they're certainly not almost impossible to spot like you claim.
This is a solid inclusion, although the lack of satellite exhibits is disappointing.29. Arctic Ring of Life
Detroit Zoo, MI
Opened: 2001
Size: 4 Acres (1.6 Hectares)
Inhabitants: Polar Bear, Sea Otter
Before the turn of the 21st century, there wasn’t hardly a single polar bear enclosure in America that could be described as anything other than horribly inadequate. Thousands of pounds of discarded concrete rubble later, there arguably isn’t a single bad exhibit remaining. However, almost none of them come even close to this one, which was one of the first glimpses at what a modern polar bear habitat could look like in the US. The Arctic Ring of Life was an enormous step forward for polar bear husbandry. While not as large as many enclosures in Europe, it’s stronger from a visitor standpoint with huge underwater viewing windows and a 70 foot long walkthrough tunnel providing views of the bears and the adjacent sea otters. Both yards are still very impressive in size and represent two different environments: the grassy tundra and the Arctic sea, with simulated ice packs included. The polar bear exhibits are still just as good as they were when they were first unveiled over two decades ago, but unfortunately the complex as a whole seems to be just a bit past its prime. Supporting species including seals, arctic foxes and snowy owls were removed and even the recent addition of sea otters does not fully make up for it. As a result there’s now a huge amount of space with not many animals to be seen. The two species present are in phenomenal accommodations, but the return of additional satellite enclosures would improve this complex immensely.
@pachyderm pro
@Moebelle
@pachyderm pro
@Moebelle
@pachyderm pro
Similar Exhibits: Like I said, while conditions for polar bears in zoos have drastically improved following the opening of this exhibit, few come even remotely close to what Detroit has put together. The key is to build enclosures that are open without many visible barriers, which has proven to reduce stereotypic behavior. This is why one of the only exhibits that could rival the Arctic Ring of Life is the Polar Frontier at the Columbus Zoo. An extremely impressive polar bear habitat with grizzly bear and arctic fox as supporting species. The polar bear exhibit at North Carolina Zoo is also worthy of a mention, representing both a forested woodland and rocky coastline environment.
Columbus Zoo
@ZooNerd1234
@Moebelle
North Carolina Zoo
@Coelacanth18
@Moebelle
.
I know you've gone on the record in the past calling this exhibit overrated, but I disagree with that assessment. When I visited this past October a juvenile bear was playing with a fish toy in one of the large pools and it was great fun to observe. After she finished wrestling with the toy in the water, she ran out of the pool and began to roll around the grass while tossing the toy around. Definitely pretty cool and the most fun I've ever had watching polar bears. The ice pack enclosure was closed for pathway replacements, but I was still able to catch one of the adult bears wandering around from a distance. Even if you don't see the bears at first, I think it's pretty likely you'll see them if you through a second or third time later in the day.
The arctic fox exhibit was removed for additional polar bear viewing which I found to be completely unnecessary. The snowy owls were in an aviary adjacent to the ice pack enclosure, but were removed a number of years ago and the space was planted over. I'm not quite sure what happened with the owls as they've been gone for quite some time.
I've put together a complete index that I will post once the list is complete. @TeaLovingDave has promised to reproduce it at the beginning of the thread so it will be easier to navigate. We're on track to reach 100 pages at the rate we're going so it'll definitely be necessary.
I quite like the randomized order. It's less predicable and more exciting for readers to not know what exhibit may be next and like @Coelacanth18 said, it would get a little stale hearing about exhibits from the same zoo back-to-back. The index will be ordered by state and will have hyperlinks to every profile, so you'll be able to easily find the exhibit you're looking for.
I understand what you mean, but I think that's something that can be discussed at the end of the thread. This way when all is said and done people can bring up exhibits that they think should've or shouldn't have made the cut without interfering with dialogue about exhibits actually on the list.Sure - you do it how you like - it’s your project.The only thing I think is a little lost is the conversations about what *doesn’t* make the cut.
29. Arctic Ring of Life
Detroit Zoo, MI
Opened: 2001
Size: 4 Acres (1.6 Hectares)
Inhabitants: Polar Bear, Sea Otter
Before the turn of the 21st century, there wasn’t hardly a single polar bear enclosure in America that could be described as anything other than horribly inadequate. Thousands of pounds of discarded concrete rubble later, there arguably isn’t a single bad exhibit remaining. However, almost none of them come even close to this one, which was one of the first glimpses at what a modern polar bear habitat could look like in the US. The Arctic Ring of Life was an enormous step forward for polar bear husbandry. While not as large as many enclosures in Europe, it’s stronger from a visitor standpoint with huge underwater viewing windows and a 70 foot long walkthrough tunnel providing views of the bears and the adjacent sea otters. Both yards are still very impressive in size and represent two different environments: the grassy tundra and the Arctic sea, with simulated ice packs included. The polar bear exhibits are still just as good as they were when they were first unveiled over two decades ago, but unfortunately the complex as a whole seems to be just a bit past its prime. Supporting species including seals, arctic foxes and snowy owls were removed and even the recent addition of sea otters does not fully make up for it. As a result there’s now a huge amount of space with not many animals to be seen. The two species present are in phenomenal accommodations, but the return of additional satellite enclosures would improve this complex immensely.
@pachyderm pro
@Moebelle
@pachyderm pro
@Moebelle
@pachyderm pro
Similar Exhibits: Like I said, while conditions for polar bears in zoos have drastically improved following the opening of this exhibit, few come even remotely close to what Detroit has put together. The key is to build enclosures that are open without many visible barriers, which has proven to reduce stereotypic behavior. This is why one of the only exhibits that could rival the Arctic Ring of Life is the Polar Frontier at the Columbus Zoo. An extremely impressive polar bear habitat with grizzly bear and arctic fox as supporting species. The polar bear exhibit at North Carolina Zoo is also worthy of a mention, representing both a forested woodland and rocky coastline environment.
Columbus Zoo
@ZooNerd1234
@Moebelle
North Carolina Zoo
@Coelacanth18
@Moebelle
I agree with both being must-see exhibits in their own right. On my predicted list, I included both Polar Frontier and Arctic Ring of Life as exhibits I expected the inclusion of. However, there are a lot of similarities between the two exhibits, so it doesn't surprise me that the OP decided to include them in one post, with the smaller exhibit at Columbus included as a similar exhibit. I also had Glacier Run at Louisville Zoo on my list, and now I'm curious to see it it'll make the cut- as it's not as good of a Polar Bear exhibit as Columbus' (a similar exhibit), but stands out in its own right due to its theming.