If I Had My Own Zoo

As many zoos build polar bear exhibits, I decided I can invent one, too:

HUDSON BAY TUNDRA

This complex recreates Arctic, in particular the western shore of Hudson Bay in Canada.

As visitors enter, the path curves between steep grassy, boulder-littered hills. Artifical mist gusts the path. Then the view opens - and they are on the shore of Arctic bay. The landscape was carefully recreated, with grassy hills surrounding the shore, bare granite rocks, walls of iceberg blocking the bay outlet and ice-floes floating on the water. In the distance is waterfall and a lone wooden cabin. Patches of snow cover the distant hills.

People walk down the sandy beach, where common seals play in the water. They are separated only by a tiny irregularity of the beach hiding the electic wire. Whale bones lie on the beach. On the opposite side of the path, there are grassy slopes on which white Arctic foxes play. As people walk along the shore, past the rocky promontory, they come to walruses in shallow water. They can walk on the promontory - and you enjoy more views of seals and walruses from above, swimming over the pale sea bottom. They can walk down into the cave, and view pinnipeds from the side on rocks and underwater.

Then visitors step into the underwater tunnel and walk along the sea bottom. Seals swim overhead. Then people notice another, white animal swimming - this is polar bear swimming overhead. Visitors can enjoy polar bears swimming overhead until they go out of the tunnel. It ends under the ice floe, and people see the bear walking on the transparent ceiling looking like thin ice sheet - as the seal would see the bear.

Then people are in the educational gallery to learn about polar bears and Arctic. Glass windows allow different views of bears from the side in different backgrounds. - walking past, underwater, above water, fishing in stream, sliding on artifical ice slopes, jumping into water from high rocks. This gallery is actually under polar bear paddock.

Visitors can also go up. They find themselves in the wooden cabin surrounded by polar bears. They can experience the size and power of polar bears who lean on cabin windows, making walls creak and putting head high above people's heads. Actually, there are regular food treats hidden in panels above windows.

Then people return to the gallery and walk out under the waterfall and walk along the tundra. They enjoy polar bears in their grassy tundra and artcic wolves on the opposite side. There are regular feeding and training sessions of polar bears and wolves in a small amphitheatre.

Then stunted trees appear and people enter stunted forest in the tundra border, with gnarled birches and candle-shaped spruces adapted to catch low arctic sun. These are special botanical variety growing in columnar shape. People walk past aviary of great grey owls. You can normally enter the aviary, unless owls have chicks, when it is closed. Then they see wolverine - another playful predator, playing with tree stumps or in shallow pool.

DETAILS OF EXHIBIT

1 Innovative elements of exhibit:
- landscape and rock formations recreate actual spot on Earth surface,
- wafting mist,
- pool with naturalistic sandy bottom,
- artifical ice-floes,
- artifical ice allowing to slide down,
- rocky, stony and sandy beaches,
- rocks giving shade and hiding places,
- waterfall and stream,
- snow-cave with overhanging simulated ice,
- rolling grassy tundra with rocks, stunted spruce trees and patches of artificial snow on hills to slide down.
- spruces are of column-shaped variety which grows into shape adopted by arctic conifers to catch low arctic sun.
2. Varied views for visitors:
- from below: underwater in the tunnel,
- from below: under the simulated ice-floe on which the bear walks,
- surrounded by landscape: from the vessel deck,
- surrounded by landscape: from wooden cabin,
- almost-touching-bears: wooden cabin has cracks,
- from the side, close: behind the glass underwater and above water,
- without borders – from the rocky crag above pool and under waterfall,
- without borders – from grassy tundra through hidden moat.
3. Animals enrichment:
- live fish & dead food items thrown into the pool,
- food is hidden in sandy and pebbly beach, forcing bears to dig for it,
- periodically activated tube feeder abouve visitors’ viewing area,
- toys on strong springs allow bears to replicate tugging with prey: pushing down bar hidden in artifical snow (simulates bear breaking through the roof of a seal den)
- pulling the rope on springs (simulates pulling the struggling walrus),
- heavy walrus-toy which needs to be pushed away (simulates pulling the struggling walrus)
- pool,
- large size,
- cold places under rocks and inside snow-cave,
- different surfaces, including lots of grass, rocks, stimulated snow, pebbles, sand,
- artifical ice on slopes allows bears to play by sliding down,
- various “rubbish on the beach” are playthings – e.g. tree stumps, plastic containers,
- three different exhibits divided by hidden moats, bears are rotated between them.
4. Education themes:
- polar bears,
- climate change,
- arctic animals,
- radio-telemetry of bears,
- pollution of oceans
- Feeding and playing sessions are regular.

***

If some zoo professional wants to borrow ideas for real exhibit, please contact me. I have some details in my imagination, and can exchange them for free. Or maybe for cuddling a baby bear.

Originally Posted by Taccachantrieri Besides the huge costs associated with constructing such an exhibit, its maintenance would also be prohibitive monetary wise. The exhibit you envisioned would also consume a lot of space.

Originally Posted by Taccachantrieri The problem is how many Zoos will it take in a continental area like North America or Europe with similiar exhibits to have a self-sustaining population?

Originally Posted by Taccachantrieri Jurek7, what did you have in mind by artificial ice? I find the idea of slippery surfaces for bears to slide down intriguing. What material would you use that would still permit cleaning?

Originally Posted by Taccachantrieri Even if a Zoo does not utilize all the facets of your design, maybe they could pick up certain ideas and incorporate them into their own designs. Instead of waiting you should e-mail your messages directly to a Zoo you like and feel would be receptive to the idea ( see my recent post about Arctic Shores).

Originally Posted by PAT -Indian/asian grasslands. With a paddock with a moat along the front that has indian rhino, blackbuck, nilgai and common peafowl. The antelopes would have an area that the rhinos can't get to seperated by posts spread evenly apart that the rhinos can't get through. -.