Lincoln Park Zoo - Andean Bear Exhibit

July 2008.

Cool photo Snowleopard, the exhibit looks awesome, I like the way the terrain is rugged, just cool for a spectacled bear.

I'm not so sure. I alwways have a problem with artificial rock which is not modelled on anything real. Where in the world can you see rocks thart look like this?? Just makes the whole thing look synthetic.....

The exhibit looks quite small too. Good photo though!

The exhibit is fairly small and is a typical bear grotto that has simply been allowed to contain some lush foliage. The photo makes the habitat appear better than it truly is.

I hate it when zoos decide that thier bear grottoes aren't fit to hold grizzly or polar bears so they think putting sun or spectacled bears in will solve the problem. It isn't an issue in Australia because we don't have many, if any left.

Apart from sun bears Australia barely has more than 10 other bears of all the combined 8 species. Thank goodness at least the Adelaide Zoo is picking up giant pandas in 2009!

This Andean bear exhibit will soon be demolished as part of Lincoln Park Zoo's $22 million Polar bear/Penguin complex that will open in slightly over 2 years (summer of 2016). The current polar bear, Andean bear, sun bear and hyena enclosures will all apparently be bulldozed, which is a little surprising considering the amount of rockwork that forms the backbone of the 4 exhibits.

In addition to the above note, the Andean bear exhibit was empty upon my most recent visit (7/30/14) and the species is no longer listed on the website, so I suspect the bear is gone and the exhibit orphaned until it is demolished.