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Knoxville Zoo - Black Bear Exhibit
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#1
Knoxville Zoo - Black Bear Exhibit
28-08-2008
August 2008. An amazing habitat that at first glance appears as if it were designed for primates.
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#2
28-08-2008
Yeah, it's funny how many zoos seem to forget that black bears can actually climb. Wow, amazing exhibit, the only bummer for me it's that all the trees are fake.
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#3
28-08-2008
I actually love this exhibit because it's so different, and when I visited I guess that I attempted to overlook the fact that the trees were fake. It is the very first thing that visitors see when they walk into the zoo, and it is so completely different from any other black bear enclosure that it kind of took my breath away. In the morning the bears were all sleeping (2 in the trees and 2 on the ground) but later in the day when my wife and I were leaving the zoo 1 bear was still sleeping but the other 3 bears were climbing all over the place. Great, highly original exhibit.
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#4
05-10-2008
It looks like a great exhibit but everything is the same shade of boring grey. The rocks, the trees and the roots all look the same.
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#5
05-10-2008
The book America's Best Zoos calls this habitat the best exhibit in the country that only features a single animal. The black bears here at least have plenty of opportunities to climb in their home.
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#6
06-10-2008
Oklahoma's looks MUCH better. Ditto for Northwest Trek, Audubon and Oregon. I think this is INCREDIBLY ugly, and though maybe okay for the bears (maybe--is there any natural substrate available to them?), it's terrible to have so much fake "nature" in a part of North America where the natural forest is ideal black bear habitat. No wonder Europeans criticize US zoos for over-reliance on gunite--this is an award-winner in that category of overkill. Sorry Snow Leopard--unique yes, but what does it tell visitors about wild black bears?????
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#7
07-10-2008
Perhaps I enjoyed this exhibit because after visting so many crappy grottoes over the summer it was a joy when I came across spacious black bear habitats in places like Oklahoma, Oregon and Knoxville. The photo doesn't show the two small pools or large grassy base of the exhibit, and only the trees and various climbing structures are gunite. There are dirt digging areas, and the bears were extremely active and utilizing the climbing opportunites that are often absent in many other zoos. Inside the walk-in tunnel visitors can walk into the exhibit, and a separate cave outside has an entire wall full of bear stats and information. I'm glad that reduakari mentioned the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, as I've visited that Washington State attraction twice and am a huge fan. Naturalistic enclosures set in a massive forest.
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#8
09-01-2009
Quote:
 Doesn't mean that one should encourage that practice, though... 
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#9
20-03-2009
This looks like a great exhibit, but most definitely not the best single species exhibit. I would say Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo is the best single specie.
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#10
20-03-2009
Quote:
Or for the public viewing them. Naturalistic, large,pool ect. How many are rotated through the exhibit???
__________________
Stuart R Webster A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead |
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#11
20-03-2009
I think it is the best exhibit for tigers yes. It also is an excellent visitor experience.
I think another candidate for the best single specie exhibit would be Lion Camp at the SDWAP. No doubt it is the best exhibit in the U.S. for lions. |
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#12
20-03-2009
Quote:
__________________
Stuart R Webster A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead |
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#13
21-03-2009
That kinda happens in probably more than half big cat exhibits in the country.
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#14
21-03-2009
Actually the current Bronx Amur tigers are in compatible small groups that are exhibited together, with no animals being housed in the holding spaces during zoo visiting hours. That said, both the indoor and outdoor off-exhibit areas are quite spacious (bigger and more fully enriched) than many "on-exhibit" spaces in other zoos.
And Black Rhino is correct that rotation of animals between off-exhibit spaces and on-exhibit is a very common practice. Some would argue this in fact is enriching, as animals get to experience different environments rather than living always in the same space |
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#15
21-03-2009
Thank you Reduakri for backing my opinion up : )
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