Sunbears Inside Cages

Don\'t forget, these are the orginal ape cages....

Both Berlin Zoos have far too many ****** cages...humankind is in the 21st century and I'm looking at photos that seem as they are from hundreds of years ago.

@snowleopard: It's weird how many "******cages" I have seen in American zoos in the 21st century...And one should not forget that a cage might be of more use for some cages than all glass or moats exhibits...

I've visited many great zoological collections, and also a number of historic prisons (Alcatraz in San Francisco, Melbourne Gaol, Port Arthur in Tasmania) and one day I'll have to see the two Berlin Zoos to combine my interest in both zoos and prisons. There are so many fabulous animals in Berlin, and while many of the enclosures are nice there are far too many outdated, ghastly cages that are all iron and steel. It seems that Berlin is still attempting to drag itself out of the "postage-stamp collection" era. In terms of animal species it is one of the greatest zoos in the world, but in terms of exhibit design it wouldn't crack the U.S.A.'s top 20 zoos.

Well, I can pretty much boast the same in both zoos and at least partly, prisons, and similarities (and they are surely not restricted to Berlin) are indeed sometimes observable; no wonder that some American zoos have consulted prison security designers to make exhibits fool- eh, apeproof.
However, I do get the impression that you tend too much to bashing exhibits of especially European zoos, while you remain rather reserved when it comes to American zoos...At least that's my impression. One notable exception is for example Omaha's Big Cat House, which you rightfully animadverted.
I see your point in laying in on bad exhibits, and indeed some exhibits in question are terrible: but it doesn't send off the right vibe if you constantly remark "bloody awful", "ghastly" "terrible animal prison" etc. when it comes to Non-American exhibits - especially if you never have been there and know only part of the story.
Wheras on the other side, you praise American institutions that I know are far from perfect...Dropping a brick and stirring up certain inter-national resentments might be the consequence.
Sorry to abuse the comment section for this, but I just wanted to address this openly. Hope you understand.

"in terms of exhibit design it wouldn't crack the U.S.A.'s top 20 zoos." There are various exhibits in the very subjective Top 20 US zoos that I would value to be on par or rather inferior in comparison to Berlin...

"is still attempting to drag itself out of the "postage-stamp collection" era." Not if Blaszkiewitz remains in charge...

Most behind the scenes, indoor holding in most zoos look similiar to this.

@Sun Wukong: I have bashed Lincoln Park Zoo's cat house, Cincinnati's cat house, Pittsburgh's atrocious primate building and bear grottoes, Omaha's bear grottoes and terribly confining big cat house, Brookfield's grottoes, and I could go on all day listing the number of pits, cages and grottoes that I've been shocked by at North American zoos. If I seem to make more comments in regards to European zoos and their exhibit design it's because I perceive that there is are far more antiquated grottoes, pits and cages on that continent. We all know that both of Berlin's zoos are world famous, but it's difficult to justify many of the poor enclosures that are found at that zoo. I do praise as often as I denigrate in all of my reviews and comments, and Leipzig Zoo's wonderful Pongoland is a fantastic example of truly outstanding exhibitry in a German zoo.

with all do respect snowleopard i had my share in visiting zoos both in the US and in Europe and i agree with Sun wukong that to call them "prisons" is a bit funny, one can claim that all animals are in prison, no matter how beutiful it is.
i don't agree with you about the zoos in Berlin. it doesn't have a milion dollar fancy exhibits but most of the cages are slowly disapearing. Tierpark Berlin is one of the best zoos i visited. it has its old/caged/Ugly sided but most of it is amazing.

@drzoomi: Yeah, Tierpark Friedrichsfelde does have some old and newer (the Monkey House, oh my...) "old/caged/Ugly sided" buildings and exhibits that should better be gone now than tomorrow, but it is indeed one of the nicest zoos, with which I also connect some very fond personal memories...

@snowleopard: There are three reasons why there seems to be an abundance of "grottos" in the presentation of European zoos here:

1. Age: with exceptions like Philly, Bronx or Denver, major American zoos were built quite a while after the first European zoos had established themselves. Monument conservation and lack of space make profound changes in especially older European zoos quite tricky.
2. Money & Social Circumstances: America never experienced wars that in some cases totally devastated whole zoos, forcing the staff to rebuild exhibits literally out of scraps and ruins (see Magot exhibit in Tierpark Friedrichsfelde). Additionally, a lot of European zoos, especially in former East Block countries, suffered and still suffer from lack of financial support. Berlin, for example, is pretty much broke; even the extra cash brought in by Knut won't help to keep two zoos running forever... Having zoos like the National Zoo or Lincoln Park Zoo free of charge is hardly imaginable in Europe.
3. Maybe European zoochat members just like to document and post everything, while others are more selective in their choice...

All good points Sun Wukong, especially in terms of the age of many European zoos. One thing is for certain: there is an enormous quantity of zoos all across Europe. There isn't a lot of space in Germany in comparison to the United States in terms of geographic size, but aren't there more than 250 zoos, wildlife parks and aquariums there? I'm amazed at how many zoos there are in the United Kingdom in relevance to the size of the nations...astonishing. Whenever I meet someone online who has been to some crazy number of zoos probably 90% of the time they live in Europe and are within close proximity to dozens of major collections. Perhaps I'm jealous!