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

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Jambo said:
Porcupines would suit an exhibit around the walking trail; I've always felt like there could be more exhibits around. It's a 40 minute walk all the way and your really only seeing six species in total.

Barbary Sheep would suit the hillside above the lower savannah very well.:)
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The best thing about porcupine is they suit individual exhibits and can cohabit with meerkats. My favourite display of porcupine was seeing them in the old kiwi house at Auckland Zoo in 2014. Hamilton Zoo have a nocturnal ‘shed’ which is basically a small room. It’s better than Wellington, which had a window; or Auckland, which has nothing!
 
Zoofan15 said:
The best thing about porcupine is they suit individual exhibits and can cohabit with meerkats. My favourite display of porcupine was seeing them in the old kiwi house at Auckland Zoo in 2014. Hamilton Zoo have a nocturnal ‘shed’ which is basically a small room. It’s better than Wellington, which had a window; or Auckland, which has nothing!
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A large nocturnal house (featuring Porcupines, Fennec Fox and the like) would be awesome for Werribee!
 
Jambo said:
A large nocturnal house (featuring Porcupines, Fennec Fox and the like) would be awesome for Werribee!
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PaddyRickMFZ said:
And then an outdoor exhibition if a night safari was implemented?
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The nocturnal house could also feature Serval depending on the size of the house. The alternative is for the exhibits to have adjoining outside yards. The theory would be the inside area would be in darkness (what they prefer) during the day; and the larger outside area would be preferable at night, meaning you see them on the tour.

They could potentially choose perpetual darkness; but the meerkats would surely sunbathe etc. during the day.
 
Jambo said:
It's meant to be a kids precinct but there's nothing much for the kids to be interested in there anymore besides the Meerkats. Venturing past the Meerkat exhibit, it's not uncommon to be the only one viewing the Tortoises!

I always priorities the stronger side of the zoo (Gorilla Rainforest, TOTE, Australian Bush, African trail) first and see what I can get done after. Carnivores is usually the first trail I take; especially as I usually use the railgate entrance. Tbh I also favour double taking some of the trails on my visits (like TOTE) to see the elephants again, instead of visiting Wild Sea and Growing Wild.
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Rail Gate users represent!!!
 
Jambo said:
I can certainly see it going within the next decade. Not sure if seals have a future at Melbourne; but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't, especially as Melbourne purely relies on rescues which don't come in often. They could easily send their remaining girls off to Seaworld or Taronga when they make the decision to phase them out (if they do).

I usually skip that trail as well, but recently have liked to take the time to appreciate the GFA a lot more; and have also checked out the new exhibits there as well.
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On the upside, the GFA is gorgeous, and the rest is quite quick to get through. I like the Tasmanian Devil there as I was actually able to reliably see one there, where as I am not sure if I have ever seen one in their big Carnivores exhibits.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
On the upside, the GFA is gorgeous, and the rest is quite quick to get through. I like the Tasmanian Devil there as I was actually able to reliably see one there, where as I am not sure if I have ever seen one in their big Carnivores exhibits.
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I have the same problem with one of Auckland’s Tasmanian devil exhibits. It’s a large, densely planted exhibit and you never see the devils. The one opposite isn’t much better, but she’ll run laps if it rains; or wade in the stream if it’s hot enough. Wellington’s exhibit is slightly smaller, but the nest box is in view (and they’re always in the nest box), so at least you see them.

Tbh the average visitor probably cares more about seeing them, than the size of the exhibit.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Friday was my first time seeing them
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There have been many times where when walking the Carnivores Trail that all I would see were the African Lions. Wild Dogs/Dingoes maybes but sometimes elusive. Coatis, Snow Leopards, Indrah, and Tassie Devils many times non-existent!
(I have seen all of them time to time - Coatis a whole of once when they were there.)
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I've said before and I'll say it again: They should keep vervets and have them in a renovated enclosure around the main Bistro.
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I’ll say it again too, 100% agree. I pleaded with the keeper (to no avail) about the decision to phase them out, and she hated the decision as much as I. The fact that they’re ab ambassador for the coffee makes so much sense. With meerkats moving there’s obviously so much space, lining up perfectly. I know they’re not endangered, but they’re immensely captivating and popular, so I think the decision to phase out is an extremely poor one
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
There have been many times where when walking the Carnivores Trail that all I would see were the African Lions. Wild Dogs/Dingoes maybes but sometimes elusive. Coatis, Snow Leopards, Indrah, and Tassie Devils many times non-existent!
(I have seen all of them time to time - Coatis a whole of once when they were there.)
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I really miss the old coati exhibit where all were easily seen and seemed to suit the enclosure better
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I’ll say it again too, 100% agree. I pleaded with the keeper (to no avail) about the decision to phase them out, and she hated the decision as much as I. The fact that they’re ab ambassador for the coffee makes so much sense. With meerkats moving there’s obviously so much space, lining up perfectly. I know they’re not endangered, but they’re immensely captivating and popular, so I think the decision to phase out is an extremely poor one
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They are AWESOME! I have been thrilled that they are so prevalent around where I live now in Moshi!
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Is it great seeing them in the wild? The coatis were in growing wild, or what is now growing wild. I remember it being a nice little area
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Definitely. I went on a walk yesterday in Rau Forest (also called Njoro Forest) on the southside of Moshi. Was amazing. Saw many Black and White Colobus and Blue Sykes monkeys. Lots of amazing butterflies. A Bosnian teacher who had visited Melbourne before agreed that it was like being in the Butterfly House at MZ! Also saw many kite spiders and Golden Silk spiders too. Several either building a web, or catching a flie and devouring. Saw a colony of what I think we were told were Red Safari ants. They were really cool to see you.
Dik dik are in the forest but we didn't see any.

There are Leopard Tortoise, porcupine, squirrels, Vervets that all live on my school campus. All with Kilimanjaro in the background looming over us (when the clouds part and sneak us a glimpse...)
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I’ll say it again too, 100% agree. I pleaded with the keeper (to no avail) about the decision to phase them out, and she hated the decision as much as I. The fact that they’re ab ambassador for the coffee makes so much sense. With meerkats moving there’s obviously so much space, lining up perfectly. I know they’re not endangered, but they’re immensely captivating and popular, so I think the decision to phase out is an extremely poor one
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I’m not a fan of Zoos Victoria’s phase out criteria, as it’s harder for exotics to fit two of the five categories. Exotics are immediately excluded from Recovery and Research; and from there have to fit two of the following: Ambassador, Ark and Enabling.

Ambassador (face of conservation campaign) and Ark (endangered) basically go hand in hand, as conservation campaigns typically exist to protect endangered species. Therefore if an exotic isn’t endangered, it doesn’t fit.

Enabling has been subjective from the get go. Mandrill apparently wasn’t enabling; neither are vervet monkeys. Yet, meerkats are considered enabling enough to remain in the collection, without fitting a second category.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
Definitely. I went on a walk yesterday in Rau Forest (also called Njoro Forest) on the southside of Moshi. Was amazing. Saw many Black and White Colobus and Blue Sykes monkeys. Lots of amazing butterflies. A Bosnian teacher who had visited Melbourne before agreed that it was like being in the Butterfly House at MZ! Also saw many kite spiders and Golden Silk spiders too. Several either building a web, or catching a flie and devouring. Saw a colony of what I think we were told were Red Safari ants. They were really cool to see you.
Dik dik are in the forest but we didn't see any.

There are Leopard Tortoise, porcupine, squirrels, Vervets that all live on my school campus. All with Kilimanjaro in the background looming over us (when the clouds part and sneak us a glimpse...)
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Bro is making us all jealous. :p
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
On the upside, the GFA is gorgeous, and the rest is quite quick to get through. I like the Tasmanian Devil there as I was actually able to reliably see one there, where as I am not sure if I have ever seen one in their big Carnivores exhibits.
Click to expand...
The Sleepy Hippo said:
There have been many times where when walking the Carnivores Trail that all I would see were the African Lions. Wild Dogs/Dingoes maybes but sometimes elusive. Coatis, Snow Leopards, Indrah, and Tassie Devils many times non-existent!
(I have seen all of them time to time - Coatis a whole of once when they were there.)
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That's very interesting. I usually manage to see all; Indrah's the one who always seems to get me. I've only ever seen her once or twice within the last few years, once the foliage has grown. I've been told by keepers that she spends most of her time along the back fenceline in the shade.

There always seems to be a Tassie running around in the first enclosure you come across; that individual is very active. If you don't see any, you can usually rely on looking into the burrows and there's usually one (or both) lying in there; especially on cold days. Melbourne did acquire three sisters recently of which I assume have been moved into the second exhibit and they would obviously be far more easier to spot now as a group.
 
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