20-million-dollar bear enclosure expansion underway at the Philadelphia Zoo

A bear in the newly expanded and renovated exhibit funded by the W.P. Carey Foundation, the Philadelphia City, the William Penn Foundation, and various other independent donors. 

In early 2025, the Philadelphia Zoo, located in Philadelphia, PA, undertook a 20-million-dollar expansion and renovation of its bear exhibit. Expected to be completed sometime in March of 2026, the project was heavily funded by the W.P. Carey Foundation, the Philadelphia City, the William Penn Foundation, and various other independent donors.

According to Maggie Morse, Senior Director of Animal Care at the Philadelphia Zoo, “Bears are incredibly intelligent animals, so we are designing a habitat that is going to reflect their intelligence, their curiosity, and all their natural history. It will be a more natural environment that promotes climbing and exploring and all the things that bears like to do, increasing their quality of life.”

Some of the renovations for the new exhibit include an off-exhibit habitat for raising cubs and more opportunities for keepers to train with the bears. Trails will be added within the exhibit where young cubs can explore, climb, and forage like they would in their natural habitat. There will also be glass viewing areas to present guests with more opportunities to interact with the bears.

Zoo360

As part of the 20-million-dollar project, the Zoo also decided to create a trail, called Zoo360 for the bears. The Zoo360 trail allows animals, like bears, to explore and move around the zoo in exciting new ways, giving them long-distance exercise. At the same time, visitors get to experience the thrill of watching the bears up close, observing their natural behaviors and playful demeanor.

“The Zoo 360 trail is really exciting. The bears love to explore. They forage over great distances. They like to look at their environment; they’re not stationary. So, the 360 trail is going to allow them to explore more of the zoo just like our tigers get to do here,” Morse added.

What will happen to the bears?

The sloth bears that currently reside at the zoo, Kayla and Bhalu, have been temporarily transferred to other zoos while construction for the exhibit is in progress. The Andean bear, Sinchi, who calls the Philadelphia Zoo home, has been permanently moved to a different zoo where he has been paired with a female bear. When the bears are brought back to their enclosure after construction has terminated, the Philadelphia Zoo hopes to breed its bears.

“We’ll be able to increase our breeding efforts too. We’ll have more space for breeding opportunities for them because they are endangered species,” said Rachel Metz, Vice President of Animal Wellbeing and Conservation said. “The ultimate goal is to enhance animal welfare and to create a better guest experience.”