Werribee Open Range Zoo Werribee Open Range Zoo News 2023

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Would love for the Lion expansion to go right back to the back of the zoo (or at least to the western side of the lake, and African Wild Dogs can extend to the southern edge of the lake), with the Safari bus driving though their enclosure, like in Monarto!

Also think it would be great if another hippo enclosure were made that encompassed the lake
 
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Jambo said:
The Lion expansion is on the cards, but is a while down the line (at least another five years). Apparently it will just be an increase of exhibit size rather than another exhibit which is better imo as the current exhibits lack size despite what they seem. They capacity is only five or six adults.

Werribee still also has that second exhibit (which is currently sitting empty at the moment) and that could easily be used to hold these cubs once they reach adulthood.

Regarding genetics, from what I’ve been told Asali won’t be breeding due to this. It’s possible that this means that any daughters from this litter will be retained long term with any male/s perhaps living separately in a bachelor pride in the back exhibit; especially if this is Nilo’s last litter.

Long term it might be beneficial for Werribee to import some new genetics from overseas rather than continuing breeding from any offspring of Sheru/Nilo.
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The Sleepy Hippo said:
Would love for the Lion expansion to go right back to the back of the zoo (or at least to the western side of the lake, and African Wild Dogs can extend to the southern edge of the lake), with the Safari bus driving though their enclosure, like in Monarto!

Also think it would be great if another hippo enclosure were made that encompassed the lake
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It’d be nice to see Werribee establish a better set up for managing a large pride of lions.

If Asali isn’t going to be breeding, then Nilo’s litter may well be the last litter within this pride. If the cubs were to transfer out, then it’d be easy to designate Nilo, Sheru and Asali (all born within five years of each other) as a non-breeding pride and potentially send them to another zoo to live out their remaining years.

This would free up Werribee to hold a larger pride of young, genetically valuable founders - ideally from South Africa.

Ideally they would import 2.2 young lions (all unrelated), which if introduced as juveniles, could form a cohesive pride. This would ensure succession, where the first generation daughters of the dominant male could breed with the beta male upon reaching maturity. Additionally, it would supply the region with some much needed new genetics.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
Would love for the Lion expansion to go right back to the back of the zoo (or at least to the western side of the lake, and African Wild Dogs can extend to the southern edge of the lake), with the Safari bus driving though their enclosure, like in Monarto!

Also think it would be great if another hippo enclosure were made that encompassed the lake
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I’m not sure what the eventual plan is for that drive through space (especially with the new waterhole precinct planned). I’d imagine this may indeed be the space that is to be used for the Lion expansion (as the current Lion complex can’t be expanded any other way). This would allow them to be viewed on Safari, and there’d also be space for Wild Dog/Hyena viewing there to create a drive through Carnivores section.
 
Release of Orange-bellied parrots:

The release is part of the final year of a seven-year release trial:

From socials:

We have some more exciting conservation news to share! Nineteen Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrots have been released at Lake Connewarre in Victoria’s South-West.

As recently as 2017 it was estimated that there were less than 50 Orange-bellied Parrots remaining in the wild. During the past six years, more than 120 Orange-bellied Parrots have been released to help bolster the population of this beautiful rare bird.
 
African lion cubs on exhibit:

Nilo has begun introducing her three cubs to the outdoor exhibit:

Zoo takes great pride as cubs become mane attractions

Zoo visitors should be able to see the cubs out with the pride more frequently in the coming weeks and months.

"There are currently small periods where the cubs are being gradually introduced to their habitat," Dr Pilgrim said.

The three cubs are still unnamed, but Zoos Victoria members and donors will be able to have their say in a voting competition launched on August 10.
 
Werribee have renovated their tortoise exhibit for their Leopard and Bell's Hinge-back Tortoises. The indoor enclosure has been tripled in size, has new ponds and heat/basking areas and further provides a new space permitting the smaller hinge-back tortoises to have space away from the larger tortoises - reported on their FB page.
 
African lion cubs named:

10-week-old lion trio get names at Australia zoo from over 360,000 votes

The name Mwezi, meaning moon in Swahili, has been given to one of the male cubs because the litter was born during the evening of a full moon.

The name Jango -- meaning brave in Xhosa -- has been given to the second male cub because he's extremely confident in exploring on his own.

The name Kianga -- meaning sunshine in Swahili -- has been given to the female cub because she's very bright and picks things up really quickly.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Sadly, I doubt they ever will be. Being off display enhances breeding and prevents the birds bred on site (intended for release) from becoming habituated to humans. With less than 1000 adults, every bird counts!
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It’s just that if the bird was exhib it Ed humans would be able to build a relationship with it and support? IE Tigers etc. With them off display, the public doesn’t have that same attachment
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
It’s just that if the bird was exhib it Ed humans would be able to build a relationship with it and support? IE Tigers etc. With them off display, the public doesn’t have that same attachment
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It’s possible if one was deemed unreleasable and was no longer needed for the breeding programme (e.g. well represented), there might be an opportunity to display one. A number of zoos are working on this species, so if a decade or two from now, numbers have increased significantly, you never know.
 
Couple of observations from my trip:
4 Melbourne zebras held in addax paddock
Only 4 camels (not sure how many there were)
Former Mongolian horse and bison exhibits under construction
5 rhinos on Savannah (was 3 not long ago)

Mongolian horses and bison are now near the upper Savannah , and construction is observable behind their exhibit.

speculative info: Getting more cheetahs seems to be the plan, sky safari is still in the plans, but had some electrical complications that will be solved following the construction of the elephant exhibits. The elephants will be sharing exhibits with multiple species, such as antelope. I was told one of these antelope species would be new to the zoo, but they didn’t know which species. 100% vervet will not be reinstated, no word on replacements. There will be dedicated breeding for endangered species around the waterhole. Meerkats may also get an expansion in this area, as opposed to safari station, but they may coincide. I’ve had no more word on the waterbuck imports
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Couple of observations from my trip:
4 Melbourne zebras held in addax paddock
Only 4 camels (not sure how many there were)
Former Mongolian horse and bison exhibits under construction
5 rhinos on Savannah (was 3 not long ago)

Mongolian horses and bison are now near the upper Savannah , and construction is observable behind their exhibit.

speculative info: Getting more cheetahs seems to be the plan, sky safari is still in the plans, but had some electrical complications that will be solved following the construction of the elephant exhibits. The elephants will be sharing exhibits with multiple species, such as antelope. I was told one of these antelope species would be new to the zoo, but they didn’t know which species. 100% vervet will not be reinstated, no word on replacements. There will be dedicated breeding for endangered species around the waterhole. Meerkats may also get an expansion in this area, as opposed to safari station, but they may coincide. I’ve had no more word on the waterbuck imports
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That’s really exciting to hear about the possibility of a new antelope species. I would have said Indian antelope, but they’re already at Werribee Open Range Zoo. Of the remaining antelopes on the live import list, only Nilgai is from Asia (specifically, India), so they would be my guess. No Australian zoos currently hold them, but there may be some remaining in private hands.

The five rhinoceros housed together must be the breeding bull, Kifaru (2009); and the cows, Make (1984), Letaba (1992), Sisi (1996) and Kipenzi (2013). Now Kifaru has matured into adulthood, he should have no problems exerting dominance over all four cows. Fingers crossed Kipenzi will conceive again.
 
Zoofan15 said:
That’s really exciting to hear about the possibility of a new antelope species. I would have said Indian antelope, but they’re already at Werribee Open Range Zoo. Of the remaining antelopes on the live import list, only Nilgai is from Asia (specifically, India), so they would be my guess. No Australian zoos currently hold them, but there may be some remaining in private hands.

The five rhinoceros housed together must be the breeding bull, Kifaru (2009); and the cows, Make (1984), Letaba (1992), Sisi (1996) and Kipenzi (2013). Now Kifaru has matured into adulthood, he should have no problems exerting dominance over all four cows. Fingers crossed Kipenzi will conceive again.
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Those were indeed the names. I’m fear that the individual may have been misled, or they’ll just use a filler African species as most suspect. I really hope it’s nilgai though, would they cohabit well?
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Those were indeed the names. I’m fear that the individual may have been misled, or they’ll just use a filler African species as most suspect. I really hope it’s nilgai though, would they cohabit well?
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I can’t find a lot of information on Asian elephants cohabiting with Nilgai, only that the latter have been mixed with Indian rhinoceros at San Diego.

Male Nilgai are aggressive, so I wouldn’t recommend housing them with elephants. An elephant could easily kill one in retaliation. I see no reason they shouldn’t be able to house the Nilgai cows and calves with the elephants though. They’re a robust species and the largest antelope. For this reason, I feel they’ve lost favour with city zoos, but Werribee’s complex will be ideal. With five paddocks holding two groupings of elephants, they can easily make this work. :)
 
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