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

Status
Not open for further replies.
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I'd actually love them to hold multiple troops. I'd keep the one they have in that location, and if Meerkat are moving to the new Safari Station, I would renovate their current enclosure beside the Bistro, and rename it the Vervet Coffee House, and further promote the coffee they sell, and that message, that the Vervet monkey are literally branded on.
Click to expand...
Concepts like these just kick me when I’m down. Amazing concept but all in vein due to the inevitable phase out of vervets. As others have covered I understand they are not in fulfilment of criteria, but I’d beg to differ. They are certainly enabling, and are an ambassador of some sorts in terms of the coffee. I agree that bonobo and mandrill should both be incorporated into the zoo in an ideal world, but I doubt they will be able to fit them. If baboons move out it’s a great exhibit for mandrill and allows bonobo to slot right in
 
Josh F said:
Once they property cover Africa then they can look to diversity their region. An almost entirely mammal focussed collection doesn’t do any justice to a whole continent really.
Click to expand...
Completely agree. On the site of the Australian precicnt, I’d love to see a reptile house showing the diverse range from Africa. With all that space and a boardwalk already in place, it could mean for a great walkthrough aviary. There would still be some leftover space and instead of focusing on megafauna, WORZ could opt for smaller mammals such as hyrax, mongoose and foxes provided all can be imported.

In its current state, WORZ probably don’t even have enough mammals. Id certainly increase the primate portfolio to include chimps, baboons and potentially something like a Barbary macaque. The Savannah and woodland exhibits could use some diversification with smaller antelope, such as Addra or Thomson gazelle. Even more woodland antelope were floated. Barbary sheep are a bit of a no brained and I do expect to see them implemented. Carnivores are also likely incoming, as evidenced by spotted hyena

After covering as many African birds, reptiles and mammals as possible, that’s when WORZ should begin diversifying, as there is no need to stagnate. There is already a great segue to the Asian precinct with the elephants, and a scaled up MZ walking scale could be applied here, to house birds, reptiles and mammals. Considering after the expansion over a quarter of its space will still remain, it would be viable to fill up space with precincts from both American continents, which would no doubt be a hit. Bears, big cats and wolves would gel well with a diverse range of birds and reptiles, namely caiman and anaconda among others.

Once the zoo hits a point like that it should be more chop and change until the perfect balance is achieved. All this keeping in mind that doubles ups should be avoided
 
Last edited:
PaddyRickMFZ said:
In its current state, WORZ probably don’t even have enough mammals.
Click to expand...
I'd agree. It just is under populated in everyway. The zoo itself is beautiful and what it does display was thoroughly enjoyable, but when I went we comfortably walked all three walks in about an hour and a half, possibly less, and the Safari only takes 40minutes. Bought a coffee on arrival, and bought coffee and muffin to eat on the lawn at the end. Spent 20 minutes perusing the shop (I flick through the books and picture books out of habit). Comfortably filled a leasurely morning. MZ is a fraction of the size physically and yet really needs more than a day to see comfortably or an intense full day if rushing.

If WORZ maintains its African theming I think they should open a small African art gallery/cultural centre near the entrance. Could look at history of the continent, its people, and the diasapora.
I completely understand how fraught this can be as there are so many different cultures, but maybe they could look to what the largest migrant communities to Victoria are and put their main focus on those areas and cultural groups.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I'd agree. It just is under populated in everyway. The zoo itself is beautiful and what it does display was thoroughly enjoyable, but when I went we comfortably walked all three walks in about an hour and a half, possibly less, and the Safari only takes 40minutes. Bought a coffee on arrival, and bought coffee and muffin to eat on the lawn at the end. Spent 20 minutes perusing the shop (I flick through the books and picture books out of habit). Comfortably filled a leasurely morning. MZ is a fraction of the size physically and yet really needs more than a day to see comfortably or an intense full day if rushing.

If WORZ maintains its African theming I think they should open a small African art gallery/cultural centre near the entrance. Could look at history of the continent, its people, and the diasapora.
I completely understand how fraught this can be as there are so many different cultures, but maybe they could look to what the largest migrant communities to Victoria are and put their main focus on those areas and cultural groups.
Click to expand...
Didn’t really think about that. I mean provided it doesn’t take up space potentially used for exhibits I’m on board. I just wish WORZ would fit smaller enclosures in every now and then instead of having large patches of nothing. Not that I don’t like the environment but I can guarantee no one would prefer to see some bushes over a monkey, or any animal for that matter
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I'd agree. It just is under populated in everyway. The zoo itself is beautiful and what it does display was thoroughly enjoyable, but when I went we comfortably walked all three walks in about an hour and a half, possibly less, and the Safari only takes 40minutes. Bought a coffee on arrival, and bought coffee and muffin to eat on the lawn at the end. Spent 20 minutes perusing the shop (I flick through the books and picture books out of habit). Comfortably filled a leasurely morning. MZ is a fraction of the size physically and yet really needs more than a day to see comfortably or an intense full day if rushing.

If WORZ maintains its African theming I think they should open a small African art gallery/cultural centre near the entrance. Could look at history of the continent, its people, and the diasapora.
I completely understand how fraught this can be as there are so many different cultures, but maybe they could look to what the largest migrant communities to Victoria are and put their main focus on those areas and cultural groups.
Click to expand...


I actually think this is a fantastic idea especially considering the high proportionality of Sudanese migrants living in Wyndham itself. I’m sure that would be quite a popular project.
 
Werribee Night Safari

The elephant complex is a great start, but if Werribee want to become internationally recognised, then a permanent night safari is the way to go. I know countless people who’ve visited Singapore and rave about the night safari; but most people outside of Victoria have never heard of the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Ideally these would be a loop of exhibits not open to the public during the day - species that are crespecular/nocturnal. Since African species are so well represented, Asian wildlife is the obvious way to go - Sumatran tigers, Malayan tapir etc.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Werribee Night Safari

The elephant complex is a great start, but if Werribee want to become internationally recognised, then a permanent night safari is the way to go. I know countless people who’ve visited Singapore and rave about the night safari; but most people outside of Victoria have never heard of the Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Ideally these would be a loop of exhibits not open to the public during the day - species that are crespecular/nocturnal. Since African species are so well represented, Asian wildlife is the obvious way to go - Sumatran tigers, Malayan tapir etc.
Click to expand...
If this night safari encapsulated the entirety of an Asian complex it would be the way to go. Seeing the elephants in their barn would also be great for visitors. I mentioned an Asian walking trail earlier but that could be completely abandoned and the whole night trail instead. At Singapore there are some great walk in exhibits, so something like a civet would be greatly appreciated if visitors could immerse themselves
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
If this night safari encapsulated the entirety of an Asian complex it would be the way to go. Seeing the elephants in their barn would also be great for visitors. I mentioned an Asian walking trail earlier but that could be completely abandoned and the whole night trail instead. At Singapore there are some great walk in exhibits, so something like a civet would be greatly appreciated if visitors could immerse themselves
Click to expand...

The Asian elephants could even be outside in their paddocks on some nights. I saw Chang, the Singapore Zoo Night Safari’s very impressive bull elephant right up by the fence; and the cows browsing in a paddock opposite, which was a really cool experience.

I liked the combination of the shuttle bus and the walking trails, which were best for seeing the smaller species like the Temminck’s golden cat. Werribee could similarly house Fishing cat, Clouded leopard etc. as well as walk through exhibits like you mention.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The Asian elephants could even be outside in their paddocks on some nights. I saw Chang, the Singapore Zoo Night Safari’s very impressive bull elephant right up by the fence; and the cows browsing in a paddock opposite, which was a really cool experience.

I liked the combination of the shuttle bus and the walking trails, which were best for seeing the smaller species like the Temminck’s golden cat. Werribee could similarly house Fishing cat, Clouded leopard etc. as well as walk through exhibits like you mention.
Click to expand...
Not to mention it would be a great opportunity for Malayan sun bear. Pangolin would be a great addition, while people could actually see the binturong. Slow loris would be another great feature, and I would expect to see a variety of bat species. My beloved striped hyena could even get a gig. The centrepiece would of course be Indian rhino though. Gives visitors a big reason to stay back, as there wouldn’t be too many ABC species apart from them(and sun bear)
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Not to mention it would be a great opportunity for Malayan sun bear. Pangolin would be a great addition, while people could actually see the binturong. Slow loris would be another great feature, and I would expect to see a variety of bat species. My beloved striped hyena could even get a gig. The centrepiece would of course be Indian rhino though. Gives visitors a big reason to stay back, as there wouldn’t be too many ABC species apart from them(and sun bear)
Click to expand...

They could potentially establish a Sumatran tiger breeding centre at Werribee as the largest centre in the region, holding multiple tigers. These complexes are popular at Taronga and Auckland.

Aside from being a drawcard for Werribee, it means they could be phased out of Melbourne in favour of new projects such as Sloth Bear Mountain in TOTE and an expanded lion facility in the Carnivores precinct (linked via overhead bridges).
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
Actually - talking the Australian Precinct at Werribee. When I was there last weekend we were completely non-plussed by the waste of space historic woolshed(?). I agree with keeping it as it is historic, but mocking it up as a woolshed felt like a waste of space and I resented the fact I walked inside once in. I assumed that some form of enclosure was going to be in there. Something.
Was dull, and was the one thing I was really disappointed in (other than the selfishness of young families that swan in the way of anyone and everyone and think the entire place is for their own convenience so bugger everyone else)
Click to expand...
Woolshed’s a historic building and is definitely protected from demolition otherwise it probably would’ve already been demolished. Same goes for the cottage. Both are from the 19th century. I do like how they’ve built around both though. The wallaby enclosure neighbours on the cottage nicely, and there’s a nice use of waterways surrounding the woodshed for ducks and the like. Kangaroos and Emus can also move about as they chose to, so I think the area definitely fits its meaning. Wildlife becoming intertwined with farm life.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I'd agree. It just is under populated in everyway. The zoo itself is beautiful and what it does display was thoroughly enjoyable, but when I went we comfortably walked all three walks in about an hour and a half, possibly less, and the Safari only takes 40minutes. Bought a coffee on arrival, and bought coffee and muffin to eat on the lawn at the end. Spent 20 minutes perusing the shop (I flick through the books and picture books out of habit). Comfortably filled a leasurely morning. MZ is a fraction of the size physically and yet really needs more than a day to see comfortably or an intense full day if rushing.
Click to expand...

Melbourne Zoo reminds me of Auckland Zoo in that sense. It’s a fraction of the size of Hamilton Zoo and Orana Wildlife Park, but is the only one of those three considered a full day out. Melbourne Zoo sure pack a lot into the space they have and I’m confident we’ll see effective use of space with whatever upcoming projects they have in mind.

The other thing that limits Werribee is the lack of breeding groups. They have a bachelor troop of Western lowland gorillas, a bachelor pack of African wild dogs and a bachelor herd of giraffe. None of these are necessarily Werribee’s fault. We have a regional breeding programme and bachelor facilities serve an essential function (not every zoo can breed), but baby animals undeniably rate higher in terms of public engagement.
 
Had an idea regarding the sheering shed that is at WORZ assuming it’s heritage listed in some capacity the externals probably can’t be changed but the internals could be completely redone as a Victorian Nocturnal House with Eastern Barred Bandicoots making a return, Murray Darling Carpet Pythons, Fat-tailed Dunnarts, Plains-wanderer, a Bettong sp., Marbled Geckos and other animals often associated with farm structures. This could then expand the native section of the zoo and give it a point of difference displaying species unique to the West of Victoria in such a way that also comments on human wildlife conflict as well.
 
Would be
Josh F said:
Had an idea regarding the sheering shed that is at WORZ assuming it’s heritage listed in some capacity the externals probably can’t be changed but the internals could be completely redone as a Victorian Nocturnal House with Eastern Barred Bandicoots making a return, Murray Darling Carpet Pythons, Fat-tailed Dunnarts, Plains-wanderer, a Bettong sp., Marbled Geckos and other animals often associated with farm structures. This could then expand the native section of the zoo and give it a point of difference displaying species unique to the West of Victoria in such a way that also comments on human wildlife conflict as well.
Click to expand...
a big increase in quality from the current(?) nocturnal house
 
Jambo said:
Woolshed’s a historic building and is definitely protected from demolition otherwise it probably would’ve already been demolished. Same goes for the cottage. Both are from the 19th century. I do like how they’ve built around both though. The wallaby enclosure neighbours on the cottage nicely, and there’s a nice use of waterways surrounding the woodshed for ducks and the like. Kangaroos and Emus can also move about as they chose to, so I think the area definitely fits its meaning. Wildlife becoming intertwined with farm life.
Click to expand...
I understand that they are heritage, and hence not demolished. I just think the interiors could be used for more than the whole lot of nothing that is in there.
 
Zoofan15 said:
We have a regional breeding programme and bachelor facilities serve an essential function (not every zoo can breed), but baby animals undeniably rate higher in terms of public engagement.
Click to expand...
I do think that breeding programs should reassess how they function. I do feel many of these species could be bred in larger numbers, and encouraged to display more instinctual, wild behaviours, with the excess being sent to their endemic countries, with the aim of them being released in the wild or reserves.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top