Melbourne Zoo Future of Melbourne Zoo 2023 (Speculation / Fantasy)

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They’re just going to way too overboard with the Aussie stuff, but also, what is that bush canp. Is that are the missing piece for a South American section. I’m not exactly sure how much space there is
 
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Zorro said:
An easier way of putting together a collection and without any import costs and paperwork. ;)
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PaddyRickMFZ said:
The MZ special. Personally would call every Australian animal you can see at Healesville or Kyabram putting together a collection lol. If Melbourne actually do this, there is no way their visitor numbers don’t drop
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It’s clear Melbourne Zoo are trying to appeal to the international market. Tourists to Australia want to see all the native species we find boring and management obvious think they represent enough of the market to make this a viable move. I’d imagine the majority of visitors from Europe, Asia and North America would go to an Australian zoo and come away dissatisfied if they didn’t see a Kangaroo, a Koala or a Tasmanian devil.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
They’re just going to way too overboard with the Aussie stuff, but also, what is that bush canp. Is that are the missing piece for a South American section. I’m not exactly sure how much space there is
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It says the bush camp is for events, schools and students. This (education) is also a focus of Zoos Victoria, which does nothing for us as it detracts from the exhibition of the animals we go there to see.
 
Grant Rhino said:
I've found something seriously interesting here - it's probably the best lead any of us on this thread have had!

The following link is to the website of Studio Hanson Roberts - an architectural firm that have designed a number of Zoos Victoria exhibits in the past. Scroll down to the 5th project on the page and you will see "Melbourne Zoo Masterplan" - it doesn't give any written info but it does show a map - which you can enlarge by clicking on it.

ON THE BOARDS — SH|R Studios (shrstudios.com)

I have no idea how flexible this plan is, but for those of us hoping for Indian Rhinos (as I am), then judging by this it's not looking likely...

That said, I'm really not sure how much to read into this - perhaps this is just a basic "first draft" designed by the architects so that they can put a picture to the project.

Keen to hear what others think - because this looks nothing like what we have all been talking about for the past 40 pages!

BTW, the website itself is great - it has a lot of projects they have done at a lot of zoos including Auckland and Werribee.
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Just a note - this masterplan is old. I found this online back in 2015, so i'd assume it was created back in the late 2000's.

I recently heard that Melbourne was currently working with an American studio (can't remember which) on a new masterplan.
 
Jambo said:
Just a note - this masterplan is old. I found this online back in 2015, so i'd assume it was created back in the late 2000's.

I recently heard that Melbourne was currently working with an American studio (can't remember which) on a new masterplan.
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Good to hear it’s likely not going to eventuate. @Zoofan15 i understand your point, and I am content with an Australian section at the zoo, but this plan goes overboard with it. I thought @austrlain zoo gower plan was good with just introducing a few new species. With that education area I’d just hope they combine them to open up space in either one of those areas
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Good to hear it’s likely not going to eventuate. @Zoofan15 i understand your point, and I am content with an Australian section at the zoo, but this plan goes overboard with it. I thought @austrlain zoo gower plan was good with just introducing a few new species. With that education area I’d just hope they combine them to open up space in either one of those areas
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No, I certainly agree they’ve gone overboard - I was just explaining their reasoning behind it. Their other main target group is kids, which explains the amount of stuff at Melbourne Zoo dedicated to that age group - which again is wasted space imo. Not entirely sure why zoos bend over backwards to cater to a market that will come there in the droves regardless (kids get in free), only contributing the admission of the parent who brings them (who probably has an annual pass anyway).
 
Zoofan15 said:
No, I certainly agree they’ve gone overboard - I was just explaining their reasoning behind it. Their other main target group is kids, which explains the amount of stuff at Melbourne Zoo dedicated to that age group - which again is wasted space imo. Not entirely sure why zoos bend over backwards to cater to a market that will come there in the droves regardless (kids get in free), only contributing the admission of the parent who brings them (who probably has an annual pass anyway).
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Yeah, exactly. I’m fine with the fairy floss and the carousel I guess, but the education centres should really be combined. There is no reason to have both of them
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Yeah, exactly. I’m fine with the fairy floss and the carousel I guess, but the education centres should really be combined. There is no reason to have both of them
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The Victoria government fund initiatives like free admission for kids, so my assumption is this influences decisions to cater to them via precincts like Growing Wild and education centres i.e. the provision of this is how they justify applying for the funding. Whether the same could be achieved by moving it all to Werribee is something I’d like to see explored though.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The Victoria government fund initiatives like free admission for kids, so my assumption is this influences decisions to cater to them via precincts like Growing Wild and education centres i.e. the provision of this is how they justify applying for the funding. Whether the same could be achieved by moving it all to Werribee is something I’d like to see explored though.
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It's Zoos Victoria though, led by Jenny Gray who's heavily into education. Zoos Vic are obviously very dedicated to providing kids precincts at each zoo; Melbourne have Growing Wild, Werribee have Ranger Kids. It's also very obvious when there's some sort of kids play area every where you turn! I do think education is very important though. If zoos didn't invest in these sort of things, people like us would never be as passionate as we are today. I spent my childhood in the zoo, and I can't say it was always looking at the animals. :pA lot of childhood comes with play too, so I can see why Zoos Vic tend to focus on that sort of thing.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The interest in Red ruffed lemur is exciting (New Zealand are also planning for the import). Since they can hybridise with the Black and white ruffed lemur, it’s unclear whether interest in them will decrease as zoos dedicate their resources to one or the other.
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I was told by a Melbourne keeper there was a possibility they'd acquire Red Ruffed lemurs when their last pair of B+W Ruffed lemurs died, but obviously those plans never eventuated with a new pair being brought in.

Melbourne could put them in their main Lemur walkthrough; seperate from their B+W Ruffed lemurs, but in with the Ringtails. I've always wanted to see Ruffed Lemurs in the walkthrough part. It would allow compare and contrast between the two different Lemur species.
 
Zorro said:
Why does it have to be one or the other?
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They can hybridise, so can't be displayed together. It's unlikely zoos would also go to the lengths of displaying both separately..

It's like zoos only choosing one specific sub species to focus on, rather than multiple.
 
Zorro said:
Why does it have to be one or the other?
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They can’t be mixed, so zoos will have to dedicate resources to housing both. This is something some zoos will be reluctant to do when most visitors will view the Red ruffed as a better version of the other. Similar to how the general public think the Snow leopard is the ultimate leopard (despite not being a subspecies of leopard).
 
Zorro said:
Why does it have to be one or the other?
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I’ll further add to this that most zoos who hold Black and white ruffed don’t breed - with zoos like Hamilton (who have) supplying most of the other holders with non breeding sibling pairs etc. With this in mind, a phase out to Red ruffed could be quite rapid as it’s simply a matter of letting their existing ruffed lemurs die out like @Jambo said re. Melbourne’s.
 
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