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

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PaddyRickMFZ said:
There seems to be a little bit of space around the enclosure that could be expanded though?
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Zoofan15 said:
Felids like nothing better than to perch high above everything, so the positing of the BTS area wouldn’t be an issue as long as it was accessible. Cats are naturally adept climbers.

It sounds like the main issue is the size of the BTS area, but if that could be expanded, that would be ideal. Given the space constraints, their set up would be best suited to a non breeding or sibling pair.
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There's no realistic space for expansion unfortunately. I'll maybe take a photo next time I visit, but the BTS area is only about the size of an average bedroom, and lacks height as well. I'd assume it's broken up to, to accommodate the Coatis, so would be even smaller.
 
Sloth Bear Mountain

This is a basic plan I’ve drawn up for Sloth Bear Mountain.

I’d expect a real life version to do a better job of contouring the mountain peaks, but you get the idea.

The aquarium and Dhole burrow viewing window would be located within the interior of the mountain.
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Zoofan15 said:
Sloth Bear Mountain

This is a basic plan I’ve drawn up for Sloth Bear Mountain.

I’d expect a real life version to do a better job of contouring the mountain peaks, but you get the idea.

The aquarium and Dhole burrow viewing window would be located within the interior of the mountain.
View attachment 610617
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Looks really cool!
@The Sleepy Hippo I am honestly not sure on the decision to phase them out. They seem to be immensely popular with children and the accompanying climbing frame is always in use. As zoo fan said they just don’t fit all the categories, then again neither do a lot of their species. If they have chosen to phase them out, it is my assumption that the replacement has already been chosen, and in the plans for a while.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I am honestly not sure on the decision to phase them out. They seem to be immensely popular with children and the accompanying climbing frame is always in use. As zoo fan said they just don’t fit all the categories, then again neither do a lot of their species. If they have chosen to phase them out, it is my assumption that the replacement has already been chosen, and in the plans for a while.
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Are you referring to the Coati?
 
Jambo said:
Are you referring to the Coati?
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I was indeed referring to the vervets, but that actually coincides with the coatis too I understand. I really hope coatis are not phased out and rather moved. They just get overshadowed being right next to the snow leopards. Potentially the old squirrel monkeys if binturong aren’t reimplemented? Admittedly idk how much space there is
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I was indeed referring to the vervets, but that actually coincides with the coatis too I understand. I really hope coatis are not phased out and rather moved. They just get overshadowed being right next to the snow leopards. Potentially the old squirrel monkeys if binturong aren’t reimplemented? Admittedly idk how much space there is
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I guess that's a fair point. I'd argue another option might be in the Treetop Monkey Trail which has that empty exhibit at the moment.

There is enough space for them in the current Squirrel Monkey enclosure; they were actually kept in there a few years back, but I'd prefer to see that enclosure house an Asian species.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I'd be happy if the vervet were coming to MZ. I frequent MZ and would definitely make their enclosure a regular haunt!
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Doubt Vervets would go to MZ unfortunately. They suit Werribee more than anything, and seem like they're being phased out by Zoos Vic as a whole.

Colobus are the obvious replacement, but whether that means moving Melbourne's troop entirely over there, or splitting it in half; we'll soon see.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I'd be happy if the vervet were coming to MZ. I frequent MZ and would definitely make their enclosure a regular haunt!
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Id love to see them at MZ. Unfortunately all the specimens are deserved and a keeper confirmed to me that they will live out their lives at WORZ. Very sad news, but I had a chat with one of the volunteers, and we were both talking about how, worst case scenario, we can just import some more. That’s the problems with the peccaries at MZ. If they aren’t bred, we will never see peccaries in Australia again
@Jambo at this stage we will have to hope breeding happens in the near future
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I'd be happy if the vervet were coming to MZ. I frequent MZ and would definitely make their enclosure a regular haunt!
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I think a swap between Vervet monkey and Black and white colobus could be a good option. They’re planning to breed their pair of colobus and will hopefully be importing more to form a larger troop - something that could be managed at Werribee.

The dwindling Vervet monkey troop could then live out their remaining years at Melbourne - though current plans are for them to remain at Werribee.
 
Jambo said:
I guess that's a fair point. I'd argue another option might be in the Treetop Monkey Trail which has that empty exhibit at the moment.

There is enough space for them in the current Squirrel Monkey enclosure; they were actually kept in there a few years back, but I'd prefer to see that enclosure house an Asian species.
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I don’t know what enclosures are free but that would certainly increase diversity. I have stated that my personal preference is them to return to Growing Wild, in preparation for our fabled South American precinct, but I would severely doubt that’s on the cards. @Zoofan15 I would actually prefer the vervets remain at WORZ and the colobus at MZ, just because vervet suit Werribee more and are probably a more engaging species from a public lens
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I don’t know what enclosures are free but that would certainly increase diversity. I have stated that my personal preference is them to return to Growing Wild, in preparation for our fabled South American precinct, but I would severely doubt that’s on the cards. @Zoofan15 I would actually prefer the vervets remain at WORZ and the colobus at MZ, just because vervet suit Werribee more and are probably a more engaging species from a public lens
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The Collared peccary would be such an asset to a South American precinct. With Jaguar off the cards (and Giant anteater years away), there’s little representation of medium or large South American mammals in the country bar Maned wolf and Brazilian tapir.

With Collared peccary being phased out, a South American would predominantly be based around birds and small monkeys unless they acquire Maned wolf again.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I don’t know what enclosures are free but that would certainly increase diversity. I have stated that my personal preference is them to return to Growing Wild, in preparation for our fabled South American precinct, but I would severely doubt that’s on the cards. @Zoofan15 I would actually prefer the vervets remain at WORZ and the colobus at MZ, just because vervet suit Werribee more and are probably a more engaging species from a public lens
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I agree. Colobus are not really ground dwellers. They are found high in the trees in the forest. They would not suit the Vervet enclosure in my mind. Both species suit their current respective zoos far more than the alternatives.
 
It
Zoofan15 said:
The Collared peccary would be such an asset to a South American precinct. With Jaguar off the cards (and Giant anteater years away), there’s little representation of medium or large South American mammals in the country bar Maned wolf and Brazilian tapir.

With Collared peccary being phased out, a South American would predominantly be based around birds and small monkeys unless they acquire Maned wolf again.
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just baffles me that MZ isn’t even considering breeding them, well, that we know of at least. Last time I asked they said they couldn’t answer, and I feel like if it wasn’t in the air at all they would have just said so
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
It

just baffles me that MZ isn’t even considering breeding them, well, that we know of at least. Last time I asked they said they couldn’t answer, and I feel like if it wasn’t in the air at all they would have just said so
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When I asked them last year they said they were a non breeding group and were going to be phased out.

Inbreeding has never stopped zoos before (look at Indian antelope), so the decision would be based around then not fitting Zoos Victoria’s criteria. Ironic, when the scarcity of this species makes it one of the ones we’re most interested to see - along with Malayan tapir and Vervet monkey.

I am genuinely surprised though that no other facility wanted to take the peccaries on to prevent the species getting phased out. Even if Melbourne wanted to retain their current three, they could have supplied another facility with offspring.
 
Zoofan15 said:
When I asked them last year they said they were a non breeding group and were going to be phased out.

Inbreeding has never stopped zoos before (look at Indian antelope), so the decision would be based around then not fitting Zoos Victoria’s criteria. Ironic, when the scarcity of this species makes it one of the ones we’re most interested to see - along with Malayan tapir and Vervet monkey.

I am genuinely surprised though that no other facility wanted to take the peccaries on to prevent the species getting phased out. Even if Melbourne wanted to retain their current three, they could have supplied another facility with offspring.
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Inbreeding certainly doesn’t stop the breeding of peccaries either! Isn’t our whole population derived from a single pair imported several decades ago, like in 1900s
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I agree. Colobus are not really ground dwellers. They are found high in the trees in the forest. They would not suit the Vervet enclosure in my mind. Both species suit their current respective zoos far more than the alternatives.
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That's true, but the enclosure could easily be renovated for them by adding more trees and climbing opportunities than it currently has.

I just hope Werribee dosen't go the simple route and just add some Crested Porcupine there (which they've expressed interest in).
 
Jambo said:
That's true, but the enclosure could easily be renovated for them by adding more trees and climbing opportunities than it currently has.

I just hope Werribee dosen't go the simple route and just add some Crested Porcupine there (which they've expressed interest in).
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We’d all love to see porcupine, but I really hope they wouldn’t be in that enclosure. Besides, old world porcupines aren’t arboreal so it wouldn’t make a ton of sense
 
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