Don't get me wrong, the space looks good and the bears were more than overdue for a new improved enclosure, but my god, talk about fake rock overdose. Someone obviously likes it! Is there any real rocks in the world that actually look as uniform as this in shape and colour. You might as well have just built a brick wall (which actually would have looked better in my opinion).
I wholeheartedly agree with Newzooboy. Seeing grass in a polar bear enclosure is almost shocking these days but much needed, and this looks far larger than the concrete pit the bears used to be in...but of all the fake rocks in the world these are certainly looking quite dodgy compared to other zoo exhibits.
So the Toronto Zoo has spent millions on hideous rockwork? Ugh. At least the enclosure is a massive improvement on the old one, and the bears will enjoy the grass.
Being to the arctic tundra, these rocks look almost 100% like the ones up north, with the cracks and painted on lichen and the large boulders. It looks extreamly good. With weathering the rocks will decrese in brightness and will become better to look at. Any rockwork looks bad at first but in time it will look better.
I disagree about the quality of the rock work. It appears (in this photo) poorly carved and colored, lacking detail. These are the hallmarks of low cost exhibit fabrication. Over time, gunite does not weather pleasantly, the colors fade and require touch up, lime stains appear. Top quality rockwork looks fantastic the moment the artists step away from it.
Well, I know for a fact that the gunite I have seen in zoos weather's quite nicely. Having my father in the concrete and construction business I know it may turn to a lime colour, but that can be easily fixed. I have yet to see a new exhibit where rockwork looks amazing from the moment the exhibit is finished. The rock has lots of detail, with cracks, lichen, etc. Like I have said before though, with some weathering the rockwork will tone down and look extreamly real. As for the way it is now yes it looks unreal but still looks very realistic, now enough with the flaws of this exhibit. It is surely a top notch facility now!
Well, it is a huge improvement over what was there. But the terrible rockwork (sorry, it does not look believable and will not magically improve with age), the poorly executed sightlines (many visible moats and fences that were clearly supposed to be hidden by soil or plants where they "just missed"), and the rather astounding amount of visible hotwire are all unfortunate details that were avoidable. What could have been a great exhibit is unfortunately only a good exhibit (again, it's probably great for the animals--I'm talking about the visitor experience and the attempt to make a believable arctic environment--clearly a goal of the project). The amount of space and the intensive planting of the bear enclosures are exemplary--it's just too bad the exhibit details are so lacking.
