In 2019, the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo set out to renovate their grizzly bear and other enclosures, to make them three to four times larger. After unexpected delays due to restructuring the plans, the zoo is finally expecting to see the bear enclosure expansion to begin in about five months time. 

The former zoo manager, Tim Sinclair-Smith, created a “master plan” for the zoo back in 2019, but resigned shortly after to pursue other endeavours. 

When the current zoo manager, Jeff Mitchell, took over, he reworked the plan to better suit the park. 

Originally the plans for the bears was to build their enclosure further away from the zoo grounds, but Michell explained, instead of building relatively far away, it would make more sense for them to invest and build within the park.

“Jumping all the way into the back area for the very first expansion, and then having a long walk where there’s no animals,” said Mitchell. “But [rather] slowly looking at expanding from the center and figuring our way out, versus jumping, kind of all over the place.”

The main concern for the current bear exhibit still remains that it is simply too small for the large bears.

“It’s a little small for them, they just don’t have as much space to move around and do the things that they should be able to do.” Said Mitchell.

Some of the other improvements the zoo will make in the new exhibit will be a new pool for the bears. They want to switch the current one, which you have to dump and refill the water every week, to a water filtered pool that would keep the water clean for longer.

A new aspect Mitchell wants to introduce is the way the public will view the animals. He wants a barrier-free design. 

“Instead of having, you know, fencing and glass as the only way to see an animal, we’re working on developing the techniques and utilizing some of the modern zoo techniques that allow you to look straight across and be able to see the animal through no fence and through no glass.” Said Mitchell.

Of course he doesn’t mean hands on like the Netflix show, Tiger King, but rather by using a mote to separate the people from the animals. 

The Saskatoon Zoo is accredited by the Canadian Accredited Zoos and Aquariums organization (CAZA), which is a private charity that holds zoos to a certain standard.

One of the other recent investments has been getting electricity throughout the zoo.

“We actually didn’t have electricity at a lot of our areas. So, yes, we have electricity in all of our areas now.” Said Mitchell. “We’ve spent over $150,000 over these last two years. Adding this electricity around the zoo for all of our facilities, that’s something that the public doesn’t see, but it’s really crucial and important for our animal care.”

According to Mitchell, electricity is crucial because it provides heating, water and useful outlets for other jobs. 

The City of Saskatoon has set aside over $1 million dollars for the bears and their new enclosure.