During their 1960 field trip to the San Francisco Zoo, Frederic Burk School children watch a polar bear resting on a rocky ledge in the zoo’s polar bear grotto. In this era, the exhibit often housed two or more polar bears, though only one is visible here, possibly due to rotation for feeding, cleaning, or separation. The large, concrete rock formations and deep moat were typical of mid-20th-century zoo design, created to mimic the bear’s arctic habitat while ensuring visitor safety. For the students, seeing a massive polar bear up close was both a rare and memorable encounter, offering a glimpse of a species few would ever see outside of a zoo.
