It all began with a special gift to the mayor of Denver, a black bear cub that came to live at City Park. Early visitors to the growing zoo enjoyed watching animals like monkeys, elk, bison and birds. With the opening of Bear Mountain in 1918 Denver Zoo became the first American institution to benefit from Carl Hagenbeck’s revolutionary zoo concept, that people should see animals at eye level in natural habitats without bars or fences. This ground-breaking exhibit features artificial rock formations produced using plaster casts from natural cliffs near Morrison, Colorado and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.