From my visit to Werribee...

PaddyRickMFZ said:
The same keeper who told me about the porcupine informed me the Fennec Foxes and Aardvarks were not in the works at Werribee, so that may open up a spot at Melbourne?
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Fennec Foxes have been considered on here for Melbourne but they haven't been confirmed by Melbourne directly.
 
Jambo said:
That is why management tends to not tell keepers about new plans that would be BIG news - even to media outlets. What's replacing Melbourne's elephants will surely interest the media.

One keeper I did talk to about the fact that keepers are sometimes left in the dark by management when it comes to major news. And you can definitely see why, so I guess sometimes you just have to know what's shareable and what's not. A keeper told me about Ongard's upcoming transfer back in 2018, but I had the right mind not to share it here.
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So have I made a mistake sharing it here?
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I didn’t specifically say Aardvarks to the keepers, I meant it as a general statement describing small African animals
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Then why mention aardvarks at all? It makes it rather hard to make sense of what you're reporting or to take it seriously, when you don't accurately describe your part of the conversation, let alone the staff member's.
 
Swanson02 said:
Yeah exactly with their elephant enclosure utilized for a year or two as almost a holding facility, before the animals are moved on. It coincides well with Hari's maturity too so he could move in as soon as the last Tapir leaves. It also allows Melbourne to promote Tapirs (not an ABC species) for a couple of years before moving them on when their initial popularity inevitably dies off.
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It would also be beneficial to have all ten animals on one site as it would allow pairings to be made - with non performing pairs switched up as at a moment’s notice. Many pairs of this species have failed to breed and a contingency would be at hand without the complication of different zoos objecting to the transfer of their individual animals.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
So have I made a mistake sharing it here?
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I would say the Werribee staff member made a mistake speaking to you about it. If you gave them reason to believe it was a private, off-the-record conversation then you have definitely done the wrong thing by them. If you didn't imply that, then it's on them, not you.
 
CGSwans said:
Then why mention aardvarks at all? It makes it rather hard to make sense of what you're reporting or to take it seriously, when you don't accurately describe your part of the conversation, let alone the staff member's.
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Apologies, I didn’t realise they were no on the live import list, as I am very new to this stuff. My conversation would be like asking if there are going to be any South American animals, and inferring from that Capybaras would not be added. I wasn’t aware I had to perfectly articulate every aspect of my conversation for your convenience
 
CGSwans said:
I would say the Werribee staff member made a mistake speaking to you about it. If you gave them reason to believe it was a private, off-the-record conversation then you have definitely done the wrong thing by them. If you didn't imply that, then it's on them, not you.
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I can assure you I did not mention it would be kept under wraps, I even mentioned zoochat in the lead up when talking about Indian Rhinos
 
CGSwans said:
Shrugs. I don't particularly care what you believe but it's very well-known to people who have been here awhile that zoo managements all over the world are aware of ZooChat and follow what is said here, and they tend to dislike "leaks" from their staff. That's fine - I think the onus is on them to ensure employees know what is expected of them, not us, and I welcome the news when we get it. It is, however, naive to think that a forum that has been live for nearly 20 years is flying under the radar of management.
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I said it was drastic mate, I didn't say Zoo management's wouldn't look at all. We as superfans only represent a tiny minority of Zoo guests, Zoo's main priority is ensuring the majority, families and the like, have a good experience. So when I criticize Melbourne or Adelaide for wasting space on a giant playground I wouldn't really expect management to care as I wasn't their target audience for such a project. It is naive to believe we are a bigger deal than we actually are, the current ZoosVic Ceo isn't hankering at her keyboard excitedly waiting to punish some poor bus driver cause he casually mentioned Bongos returning to Melbourne.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Thankfully I didn’t mention anything to cause a genuine controversy, such as the case of Ongard you rightfully held
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Yes, nothing you mentioned is really on the big enough scale compared to Ongard's move as mentioned before. Most, re. replacing the elephants is still up in the air and still being considered so I wouldn't really consider it big news as it's not yet confirmed.;)
 
Swanson02 said:
the current ZoosVic Ceo isn't hankering at her keyboard excitedly waiting to punish some poor bus driver cause he casually mentioned Bongos returning to Melbourne.
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I know of zoos which have quite literally fired or given formal warnings to staff for divulging off-record plans, animal news and other such information which has subsequently made its way to this forum. Similarly, there are more than a few zoos where a ban on Zoochat membership is part of the contract for employment.

Being dismissive of such things is rather rash; we should always be mindful of the fact that our conduct on this forum can and does have an impact on the way zoological collections view interested enthusiasts.
 
Swanson02 said:
I said it was drastic mate, I didn't say Zoo management's wouldn't look at all. We as superfans only represent a tiny minority of Zoo guests, Zoo's main priority is ensuring the majority, families and the like, have a good experience. So when I criticize Melbourne or Adelaide for wasting space on a giant playground I wouldn't really expect management to care as I wasn't their target audience for such a project. It is naive to believe we are a bigger deal than we actually are, the current ZoosVic Ceo isn't hankering at her keyboard excitedly waiting to punish some poor bus driver cause he casually mentioned Bongos returning to Melbourne.
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I've always considered that if some keeper not involved directly in the transfer/arrival is aware of it - it's not secretive news that shouldn't be shared with anyone. Obviously keepers have already been talking about it amongst themselves and it's inevitably going to spread outside of the zoo and to use our most recent news as an example, I don't think most of the public would care whether Bongo are returning or not.
 
Cape porcupines and Hyenas are currently in the works, as well as the possibility of a new cheetah. The elephant sanctuary is said to be able to hold up to 40 elephants, with one of the staff members mentioning they may source elephants from other regional zoos such as Perth
 
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PaddyRickMFZ said:
Cape porcupines and Hyenas are currently in the works, as well as the possibility of a new cheetah. The elephant sanctuary is said to be able to hold up to 40 elephants, with one of the staff members mentioning they may source elephants from other regional zoos such as Perth
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That’s a phenomenal capacity for the elephant complex - but encouraging to hear nonetheless. Aside from the six large exhibits, there’s a multitude of smaller holding yards - some comparable to Melbourne’s current exhibit!

The capacity will of course be affected by cohesion within groups - the matriarchal herd will comprise the bulk of this capacity and I look forward to seeing it expand over the next few decades.
 
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