Bears and Zoos

You can cool concrete by building it with imbedded cooling lines (water or other cooled liquids running through pipes). This has been done in a number of zoo/aquarium settings. Don't know if Detroit's bear exhibits include such a feature, but it is possible. Unlikely that all of the extensive concrete "decks" in these exhibits are treated this way, as it would have been extremely expensive to build and to operate.

Obviously the heat retention of dark-colored concrete is greater than with the white "ice floes" seen here. Don't know if reflected light would be a problem for an animal adapted to live on ice in the bright sun for many months at a time. Not good for tapirs; probably not an issue for polar bears.
 
@reduakari: There also exist a few ways how to (more or less successfully) "cool" down concrete before it solidifies-but as you correctly assume, I also do tend to suspect that the sheer size of this particular exhibit seems to exclude the possibilty that all of it is modified.

Reflected light is a problem; the frequency of chronic eye problems in pinnipeda kept in such lightish tanks has been stated to be significantly higher than in darker tanks. Remember that the sea floor in the natural habitat is usually dark in colour.
Modern humans probably originate from an arid part of Eastern Africa with plenty of sun. However, that doesn't mean that we are adapted to constant glaring into the sun...
 
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