Komminsk Family Kodiak Ridge

Hello and welcome to the Komminsk Family Kodiak Ridge exhibit here at the Toledo Zoo.

This exhibit is home to our three Brown bears. Kodiak Ridge can be viewed from two different areas of the Zoo.

The main viewing area is at the end of Tiger Terrace to the left of the tiger exhibit. This side of the exhibit features a 5,000-gallon pool for the bears to enjoy. This pool sits right up against the glass so that visitors can get close to the bears as they cool off. This side of the exhibit also includes a 130 square foot cave for them to nap in, complete with a viewing window for the public. Also built into this side of the exhibit is a sensory log, which allows visitors to crawl in one side and the bears to crawl in the other with layers of metal mesh in between. It is an exciting encounter that is so close you will be breathing the same air as the bears themselves.

The other viewing area is located at the end of Tembo Trail. At this side of the exhibit visitors enter a large rocky cave-like structure with big viewing windows. Along one section of the window is a dedicated dig area for the bears. It is mirrored with a public sand box on the opposite side of the window, giving bears and kids the chance to dig and play “together.”

The Toledo Zoo has two subspecies of Brown bear, a male Kodiak bear named Dodge and two female Grizzly bears named Montana and Cody. Brown bears are found in the forests and mountains of northern North America, Europe and Asia. Brown bears have a slight hump above their shoulder, round ears, a long snout and big paws with long curved claws that they use for digging. Brown bears are not always brown. Their fur can range from cream or silver to almost black. The grizzly bear subspecies is named for the silvery tips at the end of its brown fur. Male Kodiak bears are the largest subspecies of brown bear and can weigh up to 1,500 pounds. Standing on their hind legs, male Kodiak bears can reach over 10 feet tall, about as tall as a basketball hoop.

Brown bears have an amazing sense of smell. Their ability to detect a scent is 1,200 times better than a human’s and seven times better than a bloodhound’s. Brown bears are omnivores. They eat berries, roots, fungi, grasses, fish, carrion or decaying flesh, small mammals and insects. They are skilled at catching fish and will often use their long claws to dig for insects and small mammals.

All three of our Brown bears came to the Toledo Zoo as orphans due to human-wildlife conflict. Cody and Montana are grizzly bear sisters who were born in January 2015 at Yellowstone National Park and came to live at the Toledo Zoo at six months old. Dodge, a Kodiak brown bear born on Kodiak Island in Alaska, also came to the Toledo Zoo as an orphan in 2015. Brown bears and humans share space so conflict can happen. To help avoid conflict remember that brown bears have a keen sense of smell and are often just following their nose. If you live in an area where there are Brown bears or are camping in one, make sure your food and trash are stored properly in bear-proof containers and trash cans.

Thank you for visiting the Komminsk Family Kodiak Ridge exhibit here at the Toledo Zoo. We hope that visiting this exhibit has given you a chance to get up close with our brown bears and gain greater appreciation for these amazing animals. Enjoy the rest of your visit here at the Toledo Zoo.