From the start, Dr. Harry wanted the San Diego Zoo to be innovative. He had heard about a new style of exhibits being used in Germany: open-air grotto exhibits surrounded by moats, instead of cages. He decided to try this exhibit design for the San Diego Zoo. The first one built was for bears, and Caesar the brown bear, a black bear, and a polar bear moved in once it was complete in 1920. The bears sniffed around and settled down to nap. Happy with the results, the staff went home for the night.

The next morning, Dr. Harry drove by the exhibit to see how they were faring. To his astonishment, he discovered that Caesar had dug an enormous hole into the floor, “big enough to drive a small truck into, something we could not have duplicated without dynamite.” She was standing on a huge pile of dirt and rubble, apparently quite pleased with herself.

The bears had to be coaxed off exhibit, and it took several men with heavy equipment three days to fill the hole that Caesar had made in one night!