The existing grizzly bear exhibit, Bear Mountain (which is on the historical registry), just celebrated its 100-year-old birthday, and needed an major update to accommodate modern zoo-keeping practices. The new exhibit, Harmony Hill, tells the story of how bears and humans coexist both in their natural setting, and in our spaces. Like all American Zoological Association (AZA)-accredited zoos, the grizzly bears in captivity at Denver Zoo are rescued, due to conflict between the bears and humans. Harmony Hill is an innovative exhibit that aims to tell their stories and educate guests about living in harmony with bears.

The exhibit is split into two parts, a “National Park” setting and a suburban “backyard” setting. The natural setting has a river, greenery, and two viewing areas that allow visitors to see the bears in a National Park setting. Lanterns and other themed lighting reinforce the camping and nature theme, as well as location-specific bird and insect sounds to immerse visitors in the environment. A “selfie station” in this part of the exhibit shows how to take an animal-safe photograph, by staying on the designated paths and a safe distance away.

The suburban neighborhood setting features a demonstration wall, with decorative French doors that open to a “working wall,” where keepers can interact with bears on camera, and video and audio are reinforced on video screens and speakers in the “living room.” The living room has seating for guests, and a view of the “backyard,” which has plenty of enrichment for bears, such as trash cans, grills, and bird feeders. These enrichment items allow for the Zoo to help educate visitors about the ways to keep bears and humans safe in the Rocky Mountain region. In 2022, Harmony Hill grew to include two leucistic racoon sisters rescued by Denver Zoo, who enhance the message about living in harmony with wildlife.

We designed a clever software solution for the “selife station,” that displays photos on a TV in the “living room” whenever someone tags their Instagram shot with #HarmonyWithBears. The new Q-Sys sound system gives the Zoo the ability to make paging announcements at the attraction, or any other attraction on the system. Each speaker in the “National Park” zone is individually addressed to produce time-of-day and location-specific insect and bird sounds. The sound effect volume adjusts itself based on the volume of the crowd in the exhibit. Keepers can also override the system with local audio inputs such as during demonstrations, or park-wide audio streams such as for Zoo Lights or corporate events. All of the equipment is weatherproof, including the cameras, displays, microphones, and speakers – to ensure reliability, but maintaining the aesthetic of an indoor living room.

Denver Zoo - Harmony Hill

Client:
Denver Zoo