Russia's Grizzly Coast - Minnesota Zoo

July 1st, 2008. Brand-new, beautifully constructed Central Plaza.

Here is an example of a mega-exhibit in an American zoo, but one that has been $30 million of well-spent money. Featuring grizzly bears, Amur leopards, European wild boar and sea otters, along with a central plaza (children's fountain, statues, gift shop, cafe, etc) the entire complex is brilliant and won the AZA Best Exhibit of the year award. The Minnesota Zoo saw record-breaking attendance and now has the funding in place for its "Heart of the Zoo" overhaul. Some mega-budget complexes are blasted by ZooChatters (Elephant Odyssey springs to mind) but the Minnesota Zoo splashed its cash in style.

But what's the deal with the tiger-print path? It's garish and not even appropriate for the species!

(I do agree that the actual exhibits look very good, from what I've seen)

I definitely agree with you about the path, but that might be the one and only downside to what is an incredibly well-designed area of the zoo. The $30 million spent has completely rejuvenated the Minnesota Zoo, and now with a healthy attendance and funding for the future this possible top 10 American zoo can continue to expand.

Also, the zoo is well known for its 2 Amur tiger exhibits, which are seen as visitors complete the "Russia's Grizzly Coast" loop. That area of the zoo could be regarded as one entire Asian complex, and the zoo has North America's largest tiger enclosures.

Yeah I thought due to the physical proximity and thematic link, that technically the Amur tiger exhibit was incorporated into the new "Russia's Grizzly Coast"

@Ituri: Whenever "Russia's Grizzly Coast" is mentioned in press releases there is no mention of the Amur tiger exhibits (which are both outstanding and just about the best of their kind in North America) but as soon as a visitor passes through that area of the zoo then the Amur tigers are right around the corner and thus truly fit the thematic image that the zoo is attempting to convey to the public.