The Future of Zoos Victoria 2024 (Speculation/Fantasy)
- Thread starter Zoofan15
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Sable were dropped from the region for being notoriously difficult with other species of memory, or am I thinking of another species.
If the exhibits are large enough, I hope Monaro go down the road of having free range herds. where x amount are added and let to form there own groupings ect. Instead of just a hand full of females with a male and bachelor herd held of display. Other wise small groups in large exhibits is a bit underwhelming. Especially if you pay more.
New antelope species I dont think would be masterplan news in the same way hyena or new exhibits are. I think we would more likely see them just turn up after the zoos planning for them after probably years of work to get them.
It is ironic that we have finally got a new bovid IRA and no one has seemingly made a move on it. However like Steve has said before, these things can take years. So im hopeful they have plans in the works.
Sable bulls are territorial (as are most male antelopes) but have a smaller critical space (the space they’ll defend themselves from a perceived threat) rather than fleeing. It’s possible they’ve been dropped; though Waterbuck have lost favour regionally due to the aggressiveness of the bulls making them unsuited to mixed species exhibits.
Any zoo holding Waterbuck ideally needs to dedicate a seperate holding paddock to the bull and run only the cows/offspring with the herd. Werribee could potentially do this.
What I meant here is Werribee’s elephant complex (like most projects) has ultimately cost more to build than projected. As it is, they’ve already scaled the project back to five paddocks (originally seven, then six); which was a commonsense cut given there won’t be a need for seven paddocks for decades and dividing fences can be added in the future.
Werribee received funding a few years ago with the intention of undertaking a number of projects, but these are all on the back-burner until the elephant complex is complete. That’s not to say they won’t happen, just that they’re not a priority. It’s entirely possible new antelopes will be acquired, but I doubt Zoos Victoria would justify the costs of importing over exhibiting something more crowd pleasing liked Spotted hyena. The general public aren’t overly interested in antelopes compared to other species.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
Which projects are these?
There’s a great overview of plans in this document:
Grand plans for Werribee Open Range Zoo | Wyndham
With accompanying schematics:
The gondola is very much back of the queue from what I was told on my visit; but as far as I know, nothing has been officially dropped (rather parked for now).
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Re. Antelope
In my view the absolute last thing WORZ needs is yet another species of antelope.
We already have five species (of all shapes and sizes):
Eland
Oryx
Nyala
Blackbuck
Waterbuck
In the 12+ years I’ve been a volunteer at WORZ I’ve never once been asked by a member of the public about antelope.
In my view, some additions I think would work well are:
Fennec Fox
Colobus (we only have one species of monkey)
Spotted Hyena
Black Rhino
African Porcupine
When it comes to antelope though, I’d rather see a very large herds rather than more different species.
In my view the absolute last thing WORZ needs is yet another species of antelope.
We already have five species (of all shapes and sizes):
Eland
Oryx
Nyala
Blackbuck
Waterbuck
In the 12+ years I’ve been a volunteer at WORZ I’ve never once been asked by a member of the public about antelope.
In my view, some additions I think would work well are:
Fennec Fox
Colobus (we only have one species of monkey)
Spotted Hyena
Black Rhino
African Porcupine
When it comes to antelope though, I’d rather see a very large herds rather than more different species.
Why not both?
I do believe Werribee's Lower Savannah could do with more antelope species. The current inhabitants only ever use half of the 100 acre savannah at most; and with seven species (three of which are antelopes), a couple more antelope species could really help spice up the savannah more.
Installing new BOH quarters for some of the species at the other end of the savannah could also encourage more use of the entirety of the savannah too.
I would assume the risk of antelopes hybridising has discouraged them from displaying more in an integrated setting; though the territorial nature of the bulls of most antelope species means housing the bull separately off display would be required anyway, eliminating this risk.
Cows and calves could be displayed in the mixed species exhibits, with surplus male offspring separated ahead of reproductive age or castrated. We only need so many bull nyala as a region for example.
I believe @Jambo has a strong point, 100 acres is a fairy big area and its likely if a few antelopes are at one end of the exhibit or behind a tree line there is not much for the visitors to see I also agree by adding one to two distinct and spectacular species like Gemsbok and Sable would make the exhibit much more interesting even to the average punter. if adding a few more yards to isolate males when needed then its not that hard.
I believe @Jambo has a strong point, 100 acres is a fairy big area and its likely if a few antelopes are at one end of the exhibit or behind a tree line there is not much for the visitors to see I also agree by adding one to two distinct and spectacular species like Gemsbok and Sable would make the exhibit much more interesting even to the average punter. if adding a few more yards to isolate males when needed then its not that hard.
An alternative is for a handful of facilities to function as breeding hubs for antelopes within the region, supplying the others with castrated males and females for display purposes. Auckland Zoo for example houses female Waterbuck, but doesn’t breed.
Ideally this role would be shared. Rather than replying on a couple of zoos to supply the region with antelopes, Werribee (being an open range zoo) could commit to breeding four species; with an additional 2-3 received as surplus from elsewhere.
Totally agree, there’s a fair bit of space on the trails and animals like Fennec Foxes, Hyenas and African Porcupines are perfect fit and Colobus would be a good replacement for Vervet Monkey when those are inevitably phased out, although I would be surprised if any were added (I know there were plans for Hyena at some stage). Sure more antelope would be cool but it’s not filling a hole in the zoos collection.
Hyena were in the plans (along with an expanded Cheetah habitat to facilitate breeding), but it’ll be a case by case assessment as funding allows. Hyena would be a great addition to the collection and given the recent success in breeding at Monarto and Sydney, the regional population is booming. It’ll be easy to source them within the region.
I like the idea of colobus adjacent to the gorilla exhibit at Werribee. They’ll compliment each other nicely.
No reason you couldn't do both.
Personally I think antelope look better in large herds: So I'd prefer a herd of 100 nyala (or blackbuck) than 5 herds of 20 from 5 different species - though I don't feel particularly strongly about this.
My preference would be for fennec fox and colobus before any additional antelope.
A herd of 100 blackbuck and 100 chital (spotted) deer would be cool too - but that's getting a bit off topic.
Colobus have actually been in the plans but I'm not sure if they are still in the latest version of the plans. Of course they are the logical replacement for the vervets. I think everyone here agrees with this. I'd be surprised if this doesn't happen at some point in the future.
Very logical. And while Adelaide are breeding this species and Melbourne are trying to, then a holder for bachelor males makes sense - and WORZ fits the bill nicely.
I really enjoyed seeing the Vervet monkeys on my visit, but their phase out is inevitable. Aside from a lack of regional support, the exhibit isn’t large enough by today’s standards to accomodate a breeding troop, which is otherwise desirable from a welfare perspective. This ties nicely into your idea of housing bachelor colobus in this exhibit.
Melbourne have just one female colobus (Kipenzi), following the recent death of her mate. It makes sense imo to transfer her to Adelaide to join their troop and take the opportunity to improve their accomodation at Melbourne. The old Mandrill exhibit appears the best option for them at this point in time, considering the refurbishments needed would be minor.
The Sleepy Hippo
Well-Known Member
I'd love to see some Gazelle myself.
And Sykes/Blue monkey!
And Sykes/Blue monkey!