Agreed. The public will be expecting something impressive to replace the elephants and Indian rhinoceros are the most feasible of the high profile options. Melbourne already have Western lowland gorilla and Snow leopard. Along with Giant panda and the departing elephants, these are the biggest crowd pullers, with large felids, orangutans, chimpanzees, bears and rhinoceros on the next tier.
A large chimpanzee exhibit would be an exciting addition to Melbourne. Some would be of the option they’re better suited to Werribee, but I’d prefer to see Werribee build a sizeable Hamadryas baboon exhibit and Melbourne acquire chimpanzees. Phasing out the baboons from Melbourne would free up even more space.