I believe their days were numbered actually before they ever arrived. It was a no brainer both city zoos were not going to cut the mustard in the long term but mistakes are made by directors making their mark.
Melbourne Zoo or Werribee - which to visit?
- Thread starter NATY
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With elephants being their biggest crowd puller and never successful bred before in Australasia, there was a huge driving force towards being the first facility to successfully rear a calf - with the initial births at Taronga and Melbourne hugely publicised events.
Going forward, I’d expect the elephants to have a lower profile at Werribee as individuals compared to Melbourne as births become regular events; but the Werribee exhibit alone will put them on the map - and make Werribee a must see destination for all zoo enthusiasts visiting Victoria.
That would of been a huge amount of money invested to be the first to breed a calf and rake in a few more visitors but on the up side if Melbourne did re-purpose the elephant exhibit for Indian rhinos (another big drawcard) at least the exhibit would be at a no cost
Melbourne Zoo could easily renovate the existing elephant exhibit into one for Indian rhinoceros at minimal cost compared to other uses for this space. I’d hope a mixed species exhibit would be in the plans in this case to further enhance the exhibit.
With Melbourne’s developments in mind @noobmaster69, visiting in three or four years time would allow you to see drastic changes combined with new precincts since your last visit in 2015 (Predator precinct), so it may be worth visiting Werribee this time so you have two large scale comparisons to draw on any future visits to each zoo.
Hopefully you can find time to visit both though!
That's right. It's still at least a year to eighteen months away in my opinion. The first elephants will arrive in early 2024 (most likely the bulls), followed by the cows a couple of months later.
The bison enclosure was meant to be completed last year, so it was surprising to see it's only just begun construction. The whole Werribee redevelopment is around two years behind, which is understandable due to covid.
At the present moment, it's arguably the best in the region. Dubbo's the only arguable contender right now, due to their collection (which is slightly better than Werribee's), yet Werribee has much more ingenious designed, expansive enclosures and also, a Safari Tour (something Dubbo dosen't have).
Of course I expect to see Monarto take the crown once their developments are complete in about a decades time, but for now Werribee's the best open range zoo in the region. At least for me.
Good that the Melbourne elephants are gonna get more space when they move to Werribee. Kinda sad their bull passed away a few years ago, he was a majestic specimen. I think I heard Perth might be phasing out theirs too but could be wrong
Would really love to visit Dubbo, Adelaide, Monarto and Auckland in the future, maybe revisit Taronga if I ever come back to Australia
Would really love to visit Dubbo, Adelaide, Monarto and Auckland in the future, maybe revisit Taronga if I ever come back to Australia
The Bison exhibit would be comparatively simple to construct compared to the elephant facilities, so I can see why it was allocated to be the first item on the agenda. I’m glad that the elephant facilities have been prioritised given space is already at a premium at Melbourne Zoo - and that’s before the upcoming cohort of calves are born.
It makes sense to transfer Luk Chai and Man Jai across first. This will free up space at Melbourne for the matriarchal herd, who will have the run of all exhibits. Additionally, the calves will be a few months older (just over a year old) and in a more robust position to undertake the transport process. It will also require some training of the herd. At a minimum, the calves will be following their mothers into the crates.
Yes, Perth Zoo are phasing out their elephants within the next two years. It’s been widely speculated that Putra Mas (1989) will be transferred to Werribee. He’s a valuable breeding bull and the region should make every effort to retain him given it will be difficult to source another bull of equal value.
There’s hope Permai (1989) may join him in moving him to Werribee, but there’s likely to be some reluctance on Werribee’s part towards accepting her. She’s post reproductive (won’t contribute to herd succession) and the introduction of any new elephant has the potential to cause conflict in what is currently a close knit and cohesive herd.
If Perth’s elephants aren’t transferred to Werribee in 2024, they’d be looking at a similar timeframe to arrange their export to the USA - so it’s therefore reasonable to assume Perth Zoo will no longer have elephants by 2025.
That’s great to hear. Monarto is currently working on a masterplan to transform their zoo into the largest safari experience outside of Africa. It looks phenomenal. I would also highly recommend Auckland Zoo - though I may be bias here, their South East Asia precinct is incredible.
I was told the aim was for the females and calves to be moved once the calves reach around eighteen months of age (which will be mid 2024). The eight will be shipped in two groups of four (Dokkoon, Mali and their calves) and (Kulab, Mek Kapah, Num Oi and her calf). The females will likely share a crate with their calf.
Transferring Dokkoon, Mali and and their calves first will support Dokkoon in her role as matriarch. Aside from settling in first and the others rejoining her herd (as opposed to the other way around), the role of the matriarch is to guide the herd through unfamiliar situations, so she’ll be in a stronger position to do this by virtue of familiarising herself with the exhibit ahead of their arrival soon after.
Yeah love that Southeast Asia area. Too bad they're losing quite a bit like fur seals and elephants, they probably aren't gonna add anything else too interesting aside from false gharials due to NZ's strict import laws
The fur seals will be a sad loss for Auckland Zoo. Like the elephants (and the hippos that were phased out in 2016), the zoo has held pinnipeds since the 1920’s and it’s hard to imagine the zoo without them.
It appears the zoo has seen sense re. their original plans to extend the Savannah and there’s currently discussions over an African forest complex. It’d be great if this came to fruition - with Eastern bongo and Mandrill both being feasible import options.
I was told they’re actually rethinking those plans when I visited in June. The rationale behind renovating the elephant exhibit into a rhinoceros exhibit came from the zoo needing to manage two groups of rhinoceros. The premature (and unexpected) death of the younger bull (Inkosi) means there’s no longer the same pressure on to build a second exhibit.
At this stage, an African forest exhibit seems likely. It would be easy to import several suitable species. If they do decide to move the rhinoceros into the old elephant exhibit, then I’d hope they’d use the vacated rhino exhibit for something more imaginative than an expansion of the Savannah. The zoo have long talked of a walk through flamingo aviary.
My personal preference for either area is an expanded lion exhibit - either built on the site of the current elephant exhibit or on the site of the current rhino exhibit (connected to the existing lion exhibit by tunnels). Their lions are huge crowd pullers and this would allow them to manage a breeding pride.
It’s certainly not out of the question. They did phase out chimpanzee in 2004 due to having inadequate facilities to manage them and wanting to focus on orangutans, but there’s now a large enough space available to build an exhibit capable of holding a medium to large troop. This is my favourite species, so if Auckland were to acquire them it’d be a dream come true.
Of the two species, I think Western lowland gorilla would be more likely however. Management would perceive them as being big crowd pullers than chimpanzee and they too could easily be sourced from within the region and accommodated in this space. They’re also one of the few species the general public would consider an acceptable replacement for the elephants - they’ll be expecting something; and in two years time, the novelty of the South East Asia precinct will be dying down.
If you can only choose one of the two, I would choose Werribee Zoo: It has a nicer feel to it - larger enclosures, more space and a nicer natural environment. While a few people on this thread have mentioned the smaller number of species displayed at the zoo, this doesn't take into account the numerous WILD species which simply live within the grounds of the zoo:
At Werribee Zoo over the years I've seen platypus in the river (Werribee is one of the only zoos in the world with a river running through it), wild wallabies, wild birds such as pelicans, fairy wrens, cape barren geese, magpie geese, cockatoos, galahs, owls, numerous other birds, various reptiles including small lizards, as well as the odd snake, bats, possums and (introduced) rabbits.
A zoo with that much native wildlife within its grounds is certainly worth visiting - especially for someone not from Australia. There is also a natural wetlands on site, as well as a tribute to the old farm which was there before the zoo - including the old shearing shed etc.
As for the "zoo animals", they have large, naturalistic enclosures (no small enclosures or cages etc), and are displayed well.
The cafe is also good.
One caveat though: if you like/love snow leopards (as I do), then maybe Melbourne Zoo is the better choice - but if not for the snow leopards I'd choose Werribee every time.
If it’s not too far out for you, I’d do Werribee (getting there from the city can take up to an hour depending on traffic so it’ll make a big difference where you’re based and when you go), but do the Deluxe Safari. They don’t have nearly as large a collection as Melbourne, so there’s something to be said for taking the time to experience what they do have as well as possible. You’d get a more in-depth and personal tour than the free safari bus.
Otherwise, I’d go with Melbourne for the broader collection alone.
Otherwise, I’d go with Melbourne for the broader collection alone.
My main drive to go to a zoo is to see a species I haven't seen before and Werribee has more species I haven't seen compared to Melbourne so I'm more inclined to go there. The many wild native animals sounds interesting, hope to see lots of them wandering around