Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo News 2025

Jambo said:
I did see a few smaller looking kangaroos when I last visited - however since they were off at the far back of the habitat, I assumed they were just some of the wallabies.

Good to know Melbourne have already had considerable breeding success with this group; the group consists of five adult females, so hopefully there's a few more joeys yet to emerge.
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The update said there was a ‘few new joeys’, so that means there’s at least one more (in addition to Zac and Bree).

Any female with young venturing out the pouch can already have her next joey at the jellybean stage, so hopefully they’ll be more emerging over the summer.
 
Confirmation of Melbourne’s new tapir:

I contacted Zoos Victoria, who have confirmed Lupo the male Brazilian tapir is coming to Melbourne Zoo. This is what we all suspected following the news shared by @That Aussie Guy that Adelaide’s tapir import fell through.

When I asked, there was no mention of a female (the article below stated a female was to join Lupo from Cologne Zoo).

According to the same article, Lupo was scheduled to arrive last month. If so, he may be close to making his debut, but I don’t have confirmation of that.

Lupo was born October 2022 at Zoo Schmiding, Austria.

Lupo, with his mother:

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Source: https://www.vienna.at/farewell-lupo-tapir-from-zoo-schmiding-moves-to-australia/9365324
 

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Zoofan15 said:
Confirmation of Melbourne’s new tapir:

I contacted Zoos Victoria, who have confirmed Lupo the male Brazilian tapir is coming to Melbourne Zoo. This is what we all suspected following the news shared by @That Aussie Guy that Adelaide’s tapir import fell through.

When I asked, there was no mention of a female (the article below stated a female was to join Lupo from Cologne Zoo).

According to the same article, Lupo was scheduled to arrive last month. If so, he may be close to making his debut, but I don’t have confirmation of that.

Lupo was born October 2022 at Zoo Schmiding, Austria.

Lupo, with his mother:

View attachment 808469
Source: https://www.vienna.at/farewell-lupo-tapir-from-zoo-schmiding-moves-to-australia/9365324
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The plans to acquire the female from Cologne have fell through unfortunately.
 
Jambo said:
The plans to acquire the female from Cologne have fell through unfortunately.
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That’s unfortunate; though on the plus side, Melbourne are receiving a male that’s not even three years old yet. The species has a lifespan of 23-30 years, so they’ll be plenty of time to source a mate for him.

Combined with Adelaide intending to arrange a new import after theirs fell through, we’ll eventually have the foundations of what will hopefully become a thriving population.
 
Zoofan15 said:
That’s unfortunate; though on the plus side, Melbourne are receiving a male that’s not even three years old yet. The species has a lifespan of 23-30 years, so they’ll be plenty of time to source a mate for him.

Combined with Adelaide intending to arrange a new import after theirs fell through, we’ll eventually have the foundations of what will hopefully become a thriving population.
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Lupo's enclosure was under renovation when I visited a few weeks back; and it looked like there were still a few things to fix up, so it's unlikely he's on display as of yet.

Still, it's possible he's arrived and completing quarantine behind the scenes. Once the school holidays finish this week, it would be the perfect time to introduce him to the main outdoor habitat with the reduced crowds.
 
Jambo said:
Lupo's enclosure was under renovation when I visited a few weeks back; and it looked like there were still a few things to fix up, so it's unlikely he's on display as of yet.

Still, it's possible he's arrived and completing quarantine behind the scenes. Once the school holidays finish this week, it would be the perfect time to introduce him to the main outdoor habitat with the reduced crowds.
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Zoos Victoria are always very prompt in updating their online map, which doesn’t show tapir, so I agree he’s likely not on display yet; but is hopefully onsite and completing his quarantine.

It’ll be exciting to see this species return to Melbourne Zoo for the first time since the 1990’s; and Lupo will compliment the adjacent Collared peccaries nicely, both being South American species.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Zoos Victoria are always very prompt in updating their online map, which doesn’t show tapir, so I agree he’s likely not on display yet; but is hopefully onsite and completing his quarantine.

It’ll be exciting to see this species return to Melbourne Zoo for the first time since the 1990’s; and Lupo will compliment the adjacent Collared peccaries nicely, both being South American species.
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Indeed, since I visited a few weeks ago, Melbourne have already updated their map - showing the Nyalas and Otters in their new enclosures, and the Black Swans in the billabong.

Melbourne last had Brazilian Tapir recently - Arturo, who transferred to Adelaide in 2019, allowing Semangka to move on display. Still, it would be great to have tapir return to the zoo. The exhibit was rather underutilised by the female Nyala that used to reside there.
 
This is such exciting news! Not only to have a fresh import of Brazilian tapir, but to have one of the region's most high profile zoos carrying out an import from overseas. It's a pity other imports have been so challenging, which makes it even more exciting to have Lupo actually in the country.
 
Abbey said:
This is such exciting news! Not only to have a fresh import of Brazilian tapir, but to have one of the region's most high profile zoos carrying out an import from overseas. It's a pity other imports have been so challenging, which makes it even more exciting to have Lupo actually in the country.
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Lupo is the first Brazilian tapir imported into the region in 35 years! The last was Talara (1987), who was imported by Adelaide Zoo in 1990.

Considering the regional Brazilian tapir population had dwindled to 1.1 elderly tapirs, the import of this young male is much welcome.
 
Jambo said:
Indeed, since I visited a few weeks ago, Melbourne have already updated their map - showing the Nyalas and Otters in their new enclosures, and the Black Swans in the billabong.

Melbourne last had Brazilian Tapir recently - Arturo, who transferred to Adelaide in 2019, allowing Semangka to move on display. Still, it would be great to have tapir return to the zoo. The exhibit was rather underutilised by the female Nyala that used to reside there.
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What exhibit are the otters in now?
 
Zoofan15 said:
Lupo is the first Brazilian tapir imported into the region in 35 years! The last was Talara (1987), who was imported by Adelaide Zoo in 1990.

Considering the regional Brazilian tapir population had dwindled to 1.1 elderly tapirs, the import of this young male is much welcome.
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Hopefully they can grow the population into the future and not see it dwindle away once more. I believe more attention needs to be kept on these species to see that they thrive.
 
Zorro said:
Hopefully they can grow the population into the future and not see it dwindle away once more. I believe more attention needs to be kept on these species to see that they thrive.
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Zoofan15 said:
Long term, I hope we’ll see some females imported. A decent founder base of at least 2-3 pairs would ensure a more sustainable population without resorting to inbreeding.
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Zorro said:
I agree hopefully more focus will be applied to them than before!
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Getting another female for Lupo should be Melbourne's priority. Adelaide still seem very interested in acquiring a pair too, as is DDZ, so fingers crossed we'll see a thriving population sooner rather than later.
 
Jambo said:
Getting another female for Lupo should be Melbourne's priority. Adelaide still seem very interested in acquiring a pair too, as is DDZ, so fingers crossed we'll see a thriving population sooner rather than later.
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Hopefully Adelaide can source a female in time for Arturo to contribute to the breeding programme. Some of his ancestors (from the US etc) may have little (or even no other) representation within the global captive population.
 
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