YouTube - Trout keep-away Looks amazing! Is anyone able to present a personal review? I love the design of the exhibit; uneven terrain, climbing logs, a massive pool, the different textures of the grass and rocks all contribute to what is a very stimulating environment for the bears. I also like the added effect of the smoke and the running water. I have seen the videos of the sea otter, leopard and wild hog enclosures, and they all look well designed!
@aw101: if you go to the "Minnesota Zoo" thread you'll find tons of links, photos, videos and discussion on the brand new "Russia's Grizzly Coast" set of exhibits. I agree with you that the habitats look amazing, and for $24 million they better be good!! Haha. I should be at the Minnesota Zoo on approximately July 1st, and will hopefully post a review shortly afterwards.
Here's the best on-line photo collection I've found of the MN Zoo's new Grizzly Coast exhibit. Can't wait to get there to see it! Thisweek Live: Thisweek Newspapers/Dakota County Tribune - PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Russia's Grizzly Coast - 102k -
The zoo's Director was at the Bronx Zoo when I was. He was then the lead exhibit designer for Congo Gorilla Forest. So there was a very dedicated team to create this exhibit for him.
AZA Exhibit Award Application Available OK all you "Best Exhibit" junkies! You can now download the MN Zoo's application materials for the 2009 AZA Exhibit Award: http://www.aza.org/uploadedFiles/Membership/Honors_and_Awards/exhibit09-minnesota.pdf
The website link for the photo gallery above does not seem to work anymore; the AZA application file in the link above is a huge 13MB; so I thought I would post some more pictures here for a taste of the complex: Sea Otter Exhibit: Salmon Exhibit, in Lava Tube viewing area for Grizzly Bear Exhibit: Grizzly Bear Exhibit: Wild Boar Exhibit: Amur Leopard Exhibit, first (of three) habitat: Amur Leopard Exhibits outdoor viewing shelter:
