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

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Zoofan15 said:
I think African megafauna will always remain centric to Werribee, but diversification into species from other continents is essential if they want to be recognised as one of the region’s leading zoos. To date, they’ve very much remained in the background within a regional and international context - and should aspire to be more than an average zoo with a world class elephant complex.
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With the addition of Elephants, they have the potential to diversify and become one of the leading Open Range zoos in the region, potentially the world. They have announced the opening of many new precincts and it is agonising they haven’t planned for any animals after the elephants apart for hyenas… and porcupines. If the diversity at WORZ increases very little by the time this expansion is finished, it would be a colossal disappointment and a missed opportunity to become a remarkable tourist attraction
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
With the addition of Elephants, they have the potential to diversify and become one of the leading Open Range zoos in the region, potentially the world. They have announced the opening of many new precincts and it is agonising they haven’t planned for any animals after the elephants apart for hyenas… and porcupines. If the diversity at WORZ increases very little by the time this expansion is finished, it would be a colossal disappointment and a missed opportunity to become a remarkable tourist attraction
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Agreed. While the ABC zoo species will always hold a place in the hearts of the general public, it’s important to recognise we’ve come a long way from they days when people visited London Zoo and saw a giraffe for the first time. They were immensely popular as people had never seen anything like them. Today, everyone knows what a giraffe is and they lack the same impact.

My point is, even the general public would appreciate seeing unique, unusual species they don’t typically see in an Australasian zoo.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Agreed. While the ABC zoo species will always hold a place in the hearts of the general public, it’s important to recognise we’ve come a long way from they days when people visited London Zoo and saw a giraffe for the first time. They were immensely popular as people had never seen anything like them. Today, everyone knows what a giraffe is and they lack the same impact.

My point is, even the general public would appreciate seeing unique, unusual species they don’t typically see in an Australasian zoo.
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That’s just a concept I hope zoos Vic consider. Both zoos have immense potential due to recent projects, but that MZ master plan was atrocious, and I really hope they appreciate what people prefer to see. There is a reason WORZ and MZ are more visited than Healesville
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
That’s just a concept I hope zoos Vic consider. Both zoos have immense potential due to recent projects, but that MZ master plan was atrocious, and I really hope they appreciate what people prefer to see. There is a reason WORZ and MZ are more visited than Healesville
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Fair point but I wouldn’t put it to just that- Healesville is a good hour and a half away from the city so it’s a fair drive for some; with most of its visitors being locals. Their collection would still play a part tho imo. If Werribee’s collection was swapped with Healsville’s I’d guarantee the fact that Healesville would have more visitors.
 
Jambo said:
Fair point but I wouldn’t put it to just that- Healesville is a good hour and a half away from the city so it’s a fair drive for some; with most of its visitors being locals. Their collection would still play a part tho imo. If Werribee’s collection was swapped with Healsville’s I’d guarantee the fact that Healesville would have more visitors.
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Precisely. We all love Aussie animals, but it gets to a point where we have 2 Australian dominant zoos And MZ master plan seems to indicate a gravitation towards that as well, which is mind blowing to me. I’m really hoping a lot of information was omitted when talking to staff members, because they certainly indicated a lack of additional biodiversity, despite massive space to utilise in both zoos
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Precisely. We all love Aussie animals, but it gets to a point where we have 2 Australian dominant zoos And MZ master plan seems to indicate a gravitation towards that as well, which is mind blowing to me. I’m really hoping a lot of information was omitted when talking to staff members, because they certainly indicated a lack of additional biodiversity, despite massive space to utilise in both zoos
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Zoos Victoria really need to assess their market. Victorians will visit Healesville as well as Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo. Many of them will have annual passes and appreciate visiting Healesville to see a diverse range of natives beyond the basics.

These same visitors still want to see exotics and when they visit Melbourne Zoo, they don’t want to see less and less megafauna every time they go.

International visitors will visit Melbourne Zoo and possibly Werribee. The average tourist wants to see a Koala, a kangaroo, a Kookaburra, a Tasmanian devil and a Dingo. Cater beyond that and why would they need or want to go to Healesville?
 
Zoofan15 said:
That’s not a bad idea - though my personal preference would be to see Dingo phased out and the Dingo/African lion exhibits combined to create a larger lion exhibit. Melbourne Zoo has an extensive history with lions and they’re huge crowd pullers.
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So how about building a caged tunnel from the lion exhibit over the path past the fig tree and then into the current dingo enclosure? That gives the lions 2 enclosures and if they ever want a breeding pride there (which I highly doubt will happen) they can still do this by locking the gate between the 2 enclosures.
 
Grant Rhino said:
So how about building a caged tunnel from the lion exhibit over the path past the fig tree and then into the current dingo enclosure? That gives the lions 2 enclosures and if they ever want a breeding pride there (which I highly doubt will happen) they can still do this by locking the gate between the 2 enclosures.
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I feel like a free flowing enclosure would work better as lions tend to spend the majority of their day lounging in the sun (together as a pride) and so one exhibit would always be empty at any given point in time. Potentially two small prides could be held (and rotated for sensory enrichment), but the Dingo exhibit on its own isn’t big enough to accomodate this.
 
Grant Rhino said:
So how about building a caged tunnel from the lion exhibit over the path past the fig tree and then into the current dingo enclosure? That gives the lions 2 enclosures and if they ever want a breeding pride there (which I highly doubt will happen) they can still do this by locking the gate between the 2 enclosures.
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I’m still of the personal belief that a canine or hyaena should be held in that exhibit, but an overhead pass for lions could be utilised at WORZ if they put a path between the current lion enclosure and the new one in the works.
@Zoofan15
I believe you mentioned that caprines are unable to be imported into Australia, is there an explicit ban on them like the suids? Would be a shame considering all the unique species of ibex, markhor, bighorn sheep etc
 
Zoofan15 said:
Zoos Victoria really need to assess their market. Victorians will visit Healesville as well as Melbourne Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo. Many of them will have annual passes and appreciate visiting Healesville to see a diverse range of natives beyond the basics.

These same visitors still want to see exotics and when they visit Melbourne Zoo, they don’t want to see less and less megafauna every time they go.

International visitors will visit Melbourne Zoo and possibly Werribee. The average tourist wants to see a Koala, a kangaroo, a Kookaburra, a Tasmanian devil and a Dingo. Cater beyond that and why would they need or want to go to Healesville?
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MZ clearly needs to focus on exotics, and it’s my belief that cassowary should be moved from MZ to HS and ensure that HS has as many species of natives as possible. Having one of the largest collections of native fauna in Australia is certainly a reason for international visitors to attend, while also allowing WORZ and MZ to keep their strengths and visitation numbers
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
@Zoofan15
I believe you mentioned that caprines are unable to be imported into Australia, is there an explicit ban on them like the suids? Would be a shame considering all the unique species of ibex, markhor, bighorn sheep etc
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Yes, due to the risk to the Australian agricultural industry. It’s a real shame as our Barbary sheep population is highly inbred and will continue to be all the time we have this restriction in place.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
MZ clearly needs to focus on exotics, and it’s my belief that cassowary should be moved from MZ to HS and ensure that HS has as many species of natives as possible. Having one of the largest collections of native fauna in Australia is certainly a reason for international visitors to attend, while also allowing WORZ and MZ to keep their strengths and visitation numbers
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I feel like Southern cassowary is a species Melbourne Zoo could afford to let go. The average international tourist doesn’t know what they are and the species I listed above are more iconic to Australia.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
And I’m assuming as with the Suidae ban it will be close to permanent
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I believe so. Australian biosecurity is sadly very stringent with the exotic aviculture industry similarly limited. Many species will be lost over time, as we are seeing with the Collared peccary; and will see with the Andean condor if the siblings we have left fail to breed.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I believe so. Australian biosecurity is sadly very stringent with the exotic aviculture industry similarly limited. Many species will be lost over time, as we are seeing with the Collared peccary; and will see with the Andean condor if the siblings we have left fail to breed.
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It’s a shame the government don’t trust zoos to contain these animals. When was the last time peccaries escaped a zoo in Australia?
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
It’s a shame the government don’t trust zoos to contain these animals. When was the last time peccaries escaped a zoo in Australia?
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Containment is one of the main concerns, but with regards to suidae and caprine species, they're more concerned about spread of disease e.g. a keeper or visitor touches the animal and then visits a farm. In some cases a disease could even be spread via shoes.
 
Sorry to keep asking you guys these questions but, I was wondering, can species such as Wolverines, Aardwolves, Brown Hyenas and Duikers can be imported
@Zoofan15
Of course the ban is understandable, as it could cripple our economy, but that doesn’t make it any less of a shame that we are not able to house very interesting animals. Red river hogs and Warthogs are great complimentary additions for African precincts, meanwhile Babirusas are an amazing attraction themselves. So many species of sheep are greatly interesting and quite popular with the public. All that without even mentioning birds… Theoretically though, if our region genuinely wanted to put in effort to hold an interesting species from either family, a quarantine could be worked around, but the sacrifice needed is likely not enough
 
Zoofan15 said:
Yes, due to the risk to the Australian agricultural industry. It’s a real shame as our Barbary sheep population is highly inbred and will continue to be all the time we have this restriction in place.
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Could this problem be overcome by using artificial insemination - from animals from overseas populations?

If this is legal then problem solved? Or is there some reason this can't or won't work?
 
Grant Rhino said:
Could this problem be overcome by using artificial insemination - from animals from overseas populations?

If this is legal then problem solved? Or is there some reason this can't or won't work?
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I’ve always wondered this, seems like a good idea for the peccaries especially.
Really quickly, I’m not sure if you’re able to answer this but I believe you stated you knew of a potential replacement for elephants that had been floated. Of course I’m not going to ask what said species was, I’m aware you can’t share that, but my query was whether it is something that has been floated by zoochatters, or an entirely new species we may be able to speculate on. If you can’t share that, I more than understand
 
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