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

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jambo said:
I'd agree with that. Hopefully it indicates future imports from overseas. Unfortunately Motoba does have a heart condition which will limit his lifespan. Being 39, he's definitely getting into his twilight years.


Werribee's enclosure though is meant to reflect Gorillas on the Savannah theming. So whilst it was never always going to have a rainforest feel to it, I think it has disappointed with the lack of shade structures, trees ect. Just a lot of open space. I would've preferred something where at least some part of the exhibit was wooded (preferably near the viewing glass area). It would give the gorillas some privacy and would provide a unique viewing experience where visitors can view the gorillas out in the open (at the front of the zoo), and in the woods/forest on the other side. Just my take on improving the exhibit.:)
Click to expand...

Sadly cardiac problems are common in male great apes (especially gorillas), so to reach his 40th year is an achievement.

Since they’re so well represented through their paternal line, it doesn’t appear Yakini or Ganyeka will be breeding, but potentially Yakini could head up Taronga’s breeding troop; while G-Anne is transferred from Mogo to rejoin her son in the smaller exhibit. Upon her passing, Yakini and any sons he’s sired to Mbeli and Fikiri could transfer to the bachelor troop, with Ganyeka replacing him as silverback.

Given they were raised with her, this may negate the issue of sourcing a silverback who will accept Johari.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Sadly cardiac problems are common in male great apes (especially gorillas), so to reach his 40th year is an achievement.

Since they’re so well represented through their paternal line, it doesn’t appear Yakini or Ganyeka will be breeding, but potentially Yakini could head up Taronga’s breeding troop; while G-Anne is transferred from Mogo to rejoin her son in the smaller exhibit. Upon her passing, Yakini and any sons he’s sired to Mbeli and Fikiri could transfer to the bachelor troop, with Ganyeka replacing him as silverback.

Given they were raised with her, this may negate the issue of sourcing a silverback who will accept Johari.
Click to expand...

It was discovered in 2006 so I'm assuming that contributed to MZ's decision to move him into bachelor life that same year.

I've always rooted for breeding from Ganyeka and Yakini. I spoke to a keeper a few years back about that and she didn't think them being hand raised would be a problem; or a deterrent to other zoos wanting to acquire a silverback.

Sending Ganyeka to Mogo to accompany his mum is the right idea too. He's less valuable than Yakini, and Yakini's also the most dominant (so the strongest candidate for a silverback).
 
Grant Rhino said:
As Zoofan15 also alludes to, the MZ gorilla enclosure is an amazing enclosure and even with the best refurbishments imaginable, designed by the best designer in the world, the WORZ gorilla enclosure would take a minimum of 10 years to even look almost as nice as the MZ one.

Part of the problem here is the existing landscape of both properties: MZ have had a well established rainforest type landscape for decades but WORZ simply doesn't.

Personally I've always felt that gorillas don't really suit WORZ (or WORZ doesn't really suit gorillas) - and part of that is the existing landscape. That said, they are too important not to have - so this means a less forested exhibit. WORZ (or any zoo) can only work with what it's got.
Click to expand...

I feel like it’s important to have Werribee as a bachelor facility to accomodate the offspring from the Melbourne troop. Long gone are the days where every male infant bred aspires to be a silverback and like Europe, Australia had a surplus which is a challenge to accomodate. We’re at the point where zoos will likely be encouraged to accomodate their own males in long term planning.
 
Jambo said:
It was discovered in 2006 so I'm assuming that contributed to MZ's decision to move him into bachelor life that same year.

I've always rooted for breeding from Ganyeka and Yakini. I spoke to a keeper a few years back about that and she didn't think them being hand raised would be a problem; or a deterrent to other zoos wanting to acquire a silverback.

Sending Ganyeka to Mogo to accompany his mum is the right idea too. He's less valuable than Yakini, and Yakini's also the most dominant (so the strongest candidate for a silverback).
Click to expand...

Transferring Ganyeka to Mogo is a good idea at it frees up Taronga’s bachelor exhibit; with their males transferring to Werribee. Melbourne could then expect to have their (future) adolescent males accommodated at Taronga, joined by the sons of Yakini. It would be easy to introduce these young males around the age of six to eight.

I wouldn’t expect either troop to be producing large numbers of males. With Kanzi retained as a non breeder, Melbourne will have a maximum of three breeding females (probably two); while Taronga will be breeding from Mbeli and Fikiri.
 
Imo Option
I think giraffe should stay at melbourne, they almost confined they were staying with the import of iris as they say they will Breed at Melbourne, with klinutnedbut werebee should house a breeding heard, Gorilla- I think they could just stay were they are as female gorillas can be quite shy and an open exibit like the one a werabbe is not ideal for a breeding groud
 
The following is related to both WORZ and MZ, I decided to put together a little concept for the newly refurbished Reptile House at Werribee as well as filling in one of the old Reptile Houses now laying empty as a largely under-utilised interpretive display

Current Reptile House - Becomes the Victorian Herp House
WORZ
Enter the room, move Ground Boas elsewhere

Diamond Python in one tank
Murray Darling Carper Python in other
Growling Grass Frogs return

Former Bandicoot enclosure tear down turned into three separate bio regions and one human conflict inspired setup:

Victorian Volcanic Plains
Canberra Earless Dragons
Striped Legless Lizards

Mallee
Neobatracus frogs
Painted Dragons
Shingleback

Coastal Herps
Mountain Dragons
Blotched Blue Tongue
Lowlands Copperhead

Backyard herps
Eastern bluey
Marbled Gecko
Tiger snake

Former Reptile Room near African Wild Dogs becomes - African Reptile Room

Kenyan Sand Boa from Melbourne
Dumerils Boa from Melbourne
Madagascar Ground Boa moved back from current place
Madagascar Giant Day Gecko from Melbourne
Radiated Tortoises from other zoos
Veiled Chameleon from other zoos
Ball Python from Melbourne

Pretty much all of these species are held in some capacity within the region, many are simply a transfer from one site to the other. I’ve never understood why MZ had the setup for Growling Grass Frog and Striped Legless Lizard breeding programs when majority of these species wild populations are in the western suburbs fitting Werribee much better imo.

Feel free to interject or comment. This was just what I thought would be something different and exciting but also cost effective without needing to import species from OS etc.
 
Josh F said:
The following is related to both WORZ and MZ, I decided to put together a little concept for the newly refurbished Reptile House at Werribee as well as filling in one of the old Reptile Houses now laying empty as a largely under-utilised interpretive display

Current Reptile House - Becomes the Victorian Herp House
WORZ
Enter the room, move Ground Boas elsewhere

Diamond Python in one tank
Murray Darling Carper Python in other
Growling Grass Frogs return

Former Bandicoot enclosure tear down turned into three separate bio regions and one human conflict inspired setup:

Victorian Volcanic Plains
Canberra Earless Dragons
Striped Legless Lizards

Mallee
Neobatracus frogs
Painted Dragons
Shingleback

Coastal Herps
Mountain Dragons
Blotched Blue Tongue
Lowlands Copperhead

Backyard herps
Eastern bluey
Marbled Gecko
Tiger snake

Former Reptile Room near African Wild Dogs becomes - African Reptile Room

Kenyan Sand Boa from Melbourne
Dumerils Boa from Melbourne
Madagascar Ground Boa moved back from current place
Madagascar Giant Day Gecko from Melbourne
Radiated Tortoises from other zoos
Veiled Chameleon from other zoos
Ball Python from Melbourne

Pretty much all of these species are held in some capacity within the region, many are simply a transfer from one site to the other. I’ve never understood why MZ had the setup for Growling Grass Frog and Striped Legless Lizard breeding programs when majority of these species wild populations are in the western suburbs fitting Werribee much better imo.

Feel free to interject or comment. This was just what I thought would be something different and exciting but also cost effective without needing to import species from OS etc.
Click to expand...
I’m not an expert on reptiles, but that seems like a good idea, considering how few reptiles WORZ have
 
Many of those species part of the native section are either already held at WORZ, have been previously or also fit into at least one of the ZV categories. Many are at the least threatened species in Victoria.

And to my knowledge for a bio region that encompasses quite a large part of the country I’m yet to see a zoo with any sort of Mallee inspired display for reptiles.
 
Jambo said:
The exhibit may be useful down the line for other species though.

If Taronga plan to work as a bachelor facility (and potentially Monarto too), Werribee could definitely backflip on Gorillas and look into holding Chimpos (preferably) or even Hamadryads Baboons if that can't be worked out. The enclosure would perfectly suit either species design wise.
Click to expand...

I can't see gorillas going anywhere (and nor should they in my view), but I've got to admit, that that enclosure would be an absolutely awesome enclosure for chimpanzees or baboons - or even lions! Imagine lions up on the hill in that enclosure overlooking everything! I know that @Zoofan15 would absolutely love to see lions up on that hill!
 
Grant Rhino said:
I can't see gorillas going anywhere (and nor should they in my view), but I've got to admit, that that enclosure would be an absolutely awesome enclosure for chimpanzees or baboons - or even lions! Imagine lions up on the hill in that enclosure overlooking everything! I know that @Zoofan15 would absolutely love to see lions up on that hill!
Click to expand...

It would make a great exhibit for lions. I’d like to see Werribee hold Hamadryas baboons (hopefully not at the expense of Melbourne) on a scale similar to Singapore Zoo within a large, rocky exhibit. It would be a fascinating exhibit; as would chimpanzees considering they’re not held at Melbourne.
 
Zoofan15 said:
It would make a great exhibit for lions. I’d like to see Werribee hold Hamadryas baboons (hopefully not at the expense of Melbourne) on a scale similar to Singapore Zoo within a large, rocky exhibit. It would be a fascinating exhibit; as would chimpanzees considering they’re not held at Melbourne.
Click to expand...

Baboons are a perfect fit for WORZ, and I'd be very surprised if WORZ doesn't get them sooner or later (no - I haven't heard anything, it's just my guess). That said, I'm also very confident that they will stay at MZ too - at least for the next 5-10 years. My speculation is that both zoos will have a troop at some point in the future.
 
Grant Rhino said:
Baboons are a perfect fit for WORZ, and I'd be very surprised if WORZ doesn't get them sooner or later (no - I haven't heard anything, it's just my guess). That said, I'm also very confident that they will stay at MZ too - at least for the next 5-10 years. My speculation is that both zoos will have a troop at some point in the future.
Click to expand...

Like the large herds of ungulates held at Monarto, a troop of 100-200 Hamadryas baboons would be a phenomenal addition to the zoo. They’re comparatively cheap to maintain compared to great apes and don’t need a lot of space as the majority of their enrichment comes from social interactions within the troop.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Idk how I didn’t see this earlier but I was looking through the zoos Victoria newspaper thing from Autumn 2022 and I only just saw the Werribee Elephant exhibit sample. Looks really cool imo
Click to expand...

It’s was exciting to hear the complex can hold up to 40 elephants, though this will depend on cohesion of the elephants involved as there will only be six paddocks, which combined with yards would probably allow a maximum of ten groupings. The matriarchal herd will of course be the largest - long may those female calves continue!

Zoos Victoria publish their newsletters here for those who are unaware: Member Publications
 
The new complex is equivalent in size to the whole of Melbourne Zoo. The elephants are getting a massive upgrade with the complex set to be around 20 times bigger than their current one.
 
Curious to know what you guys would consider to be the optimal size of a paddock for an older male bull Asian Elephant who clearly likes his solitude living?

Also if possible could I get a quick reminder of the dimensions of each of the 3 yards at Melbourne currently plus the female yard at Taronga and old Temple yard there too?
(Am currently scanning through recent posts trying to find there was mentioned again but there's a fair bit to 'flick' through).
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Given that Monarto expressed interest in African Elephants, do you think WORZ could join in if that eventuates, and have 2 different species of elephant in the 1 complex?(obviously not housed together)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say they couldn't but I would highly doubt Werribee would do this. It's likely they'd want to focus on their Asian herd and give them the most space possible.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top