It is an old bear grotto that is eventually going to be completely redesigned (according to the long-range plan). The sun bears are extremely difficult to locate, and are in perhaps the one and only area of the zoo that needs an overhaul. Having said that, this exhibit must be one of the best bear grottoes that I've ever seen.
This picture must really be misleading because in this picture the exhibit looks fantastic. I am sure in person it must look a lot smaller and far less planted.
Woodland Park is a zoo that is extremely particular about its exhibits, and the stream of AZA award-winners over the years means that there are high expectations in Seattle. Just a few weeks ago I visited the zoo and there are signs up and a design team working directly across from the sun bear enclosure. Plans are in place to either demolish or completely overhaul what is essentially a better exhibit than many other bear enclosures all over the world, but the sun bears are next to impossible to see in the dense undergrowth and by far the hardest animal to locate at the zoo. The Sumatran tigers and sloth bears are also going to receive new habitats, and there is a fenced-off area with small models and cardboard cutouts of possible design ideas for a new Asian zone.
Snowleopard, that is exciting news indeed. You didn't happen to photograph said models and cardboard cutouts did you?
The fenced off area has a sign up that is headlined by the word "Trystorming", which means that there are a series of "mock-ups" situated in that area. The zoo has gone public with intentions of overhauling the 3 remaining grottoes (Sumatran tiger, sun bear, sloth bear) and I believe it was ZooChatter "Geomorph" who stated that the grotto area was Woodland Park's only weakness. Certainly that zone is hugely disappointing in comparison to the rest of the zoo, and along with a couple of metal barred cages for Himalayan monahs and keas that date from 1951 that area desperately needs to meet a bulldozer. Fundraising is going on this year, and the zoo can either go with a phased-in approach (one exhibit renovated at a time) or if the economics are right then the entire area could be transformed at a single time into a type of Asian Forest zone. Across from the Asian bears at the moment there are a series of cardboard structures that are difficult to define and thus I did not take any photos. There was a lot of construction paper with abstract images, a series of linking gates and pathways on a small scale, and also some items that from my point of view resembled papier mache trees. To accommodate the space requirements for the testing of new designs the entire Butterfly Garden tent structure has been dismantled, and the zoo stopped exhibiting butterflies in the summer several years ago. Around 2007 the zoo did the same thing with its Humboldt penguin exhibit, as there were several design ideas tested on a small scale before the award-winning structure was completed and opened to the public in 2009. There hasn't been any type of press release for the Asian Forest precinct so we'll all just have to wait and see what occurs. Maybe on my next visit there will be a mini sun bear habitat erected for public viewing!
