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

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Zoofan15 said:
I’m hopeful it’s for the scrap heap. I know some people rave about it from an education/awareness perspective, but it’s taking up valuable real estate and the majority of visitors coming through have seen it many times before - lessening the impact it once had.

If they can retain it, I think they will; but it’d be difficult to retheme it if the species comprise of Indian rhinoceros, Malayan tapir and Eastern bongo - so ultimately it’ll come down to what direction they want to go in for this precinct.
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And of course you know my opinion on wasted space in zoos…(growing wild cough cough)
 
Jambo said:
Would be a big fan of that. It would still allow them to maintain the ‘education’ part of the precinct, yet still add some additional (interesting) species to a a precinct that lacks species at the moment. They have the space to further expand the precinct; but a building for those species could be erected at the end of the loop (where the former Mara enclosure is).
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I guess an alternative would be to move the tapir etc enclosures up to this area, and have an educational Priority Species space where their enclosures are, linking in with the near by Australian section.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I guess an alternative would be to move the tapir etc enclosures up to this area, and have an educational Priority Species space where their enclosures are, linking in with the near by Australian section.
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That would be a nice idea imo. But since both Tapir and Peccary are on the way out anyways, this idea might fare as replacement.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
But maybe tapir aren’t on the way out?
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In a short term context, the tapir are confirmed as phase out. We’re hopeful that Brazilian will return into the region via a mass import; but Malayan tapir is nothing more than speculation at this stage. Though they could be accommodated in the elephant barn, the efforts involve may well preclude other facilities within the region from bothering - lessening Melbourne’s interest in acquiring them and being the only holder. In any case, they’ll need ZAA support, which likely won’t be given.
 
Went to shift this discussion here too Zoofan15 :)

Jambo said:
That would be a nice idea imo. But since both Tapir and Peccary are on the way out anyways, this idea might fare as replacement.
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I think it would be great to have a decent sized space to display the priority species, and have a promotion of what they are doing for each species, and the progress they are making with each one.

PaddyRickMFZ said:
But maybe tapir aren’t on the way out?
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At this point I am pretty confident the plan is to phase them out. Outside of musings on this thread to keep them, my understanding is that Melbourne Zoo has only confirmed they are leaving.
We can be hopeful but it is only based on estimated guesses and wishful thinking at this point.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
Went to shift this discussion here too Zoofan15 :)


I think it would be great to have a decent sized space to display the priority species, and have a promotion of what they are doing for each species, and the progress they are making with each one.


At this point I am pretty confident the plan is to phase them out. Outside of musings on this thread to keep them, my understanding is that Melbourne Zoo has only confirmed they are leaving.
We can be hopeful but it is only based on estimated guesses and wishful thinking at this point.
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You may consider them musings, and fair enough, but I was told by a zoos Victoria keeper/staff member that MZ had at least considered them. It’s not just something I threw up for no reason, I too figured they would be on the way out until I was explicitly told that may not be the case. Of course I took everything with a grain of salt, but there is certainly a base to what I am prophesising
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
Can I be reminded what our fascination with putting the tapir in the barn is?
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The reason Malayan tapir have been designated as phase out is that the brightness of the Australian sun causes them to go blind.

Apparently, sun shades and foliage have done nothing to mitigate the problem, so it was suggested they could be housed indoors (in the elephant barn) during the day; with access to an adjacent paddock at night - with the latter providing an interesting exhibit to view on the zoo’s night tours.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
That makes sense. I hadn't realised that folliage was not able to mitigate the brightness.
BUT
I'm hearing all the more reason to build my Nocturnal House on the back paddock!!! ;)
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I think a nocturnal house where the current tapir and oeccary enclosures are would be a better idea. If what the keeper told me is true and Melbourne do eventually import more tapir, then semangka could be moved aswell. That leaves space for a Nic nocturnal house close to the baboons and other African animals. A separate nocturnal house for Aussie animals in the Australian section would also be interesting. I believe @Zoofan15 also floated that night monkeys are receiving interest in the region and could be perfect in one of the final treetop enclosures.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
I think a nocturnal house where the current tapir and oeccary enclosures are would be a better idea. If what the keeper told me is true and Melbourne do eventually import more tapir, then semangka could be moved aswell. That leaves space for a Nic nocturnal house close to the baboons and other African animals. A separate nocturnal house for Aussie animals in the Australian section would also be interesting. I believe @Zoofan15 also floated that night monkeys are receiving interest in the region and could be perfect in one of the final treetop enclosures.
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I'd be just as happy with a nocturnal house on the site of the tapir/peccary exhibits. It'd have to be on a smaller scale, but would only need to accomodate Cape porcupine and Fennec fox.

As a point of interest, a large underground burrow could be created inside this nocturnal house for Slender-tailed meerkat. They're a diurnal species and would surely enjoy foraging between a burrow in the nocturnal house and an outdoor exhibit.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
Went to shift this discussion here too Zoofan15 :)


I think it would be great to have a decent sized space to display the priority species, and have a promotion of what they are doing for each species, and the progress they are making with each one.


At this point I am pretty confident the plan is to phase them out. Outside of musings on this thread to keep them, my understanding is that Melbourne Zoo has only confirmed they are leaving.
We can be hopeful but it is only based on estimated guesses and wishful thinking at this point.
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The Sleepy Hippo said:
Went to shift this discussion here too Zoofan15 :)


I think it would be great to have a decent sized space to display the priority species, and have a promotion of what they are doing for each species, and the progress they are making with each one.


At this point I am pretty confident the plan is to phase them out. Outside of musings on this thread to keep them, my understanding is that Melbourne Zoo has only confirmed they are leaving.
We can be hopeful but it is only based on estimated guesses and wishful thinking at this point.
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Melbourne hasn’t ‘officially confirmed’ they’re phasing out Malayan Tapirs. I’ve asked about them (and the Peccaries), and keepers have repeatedly told me there’s no plans to add Tapirs (with Semangka). But aside from that, all have stated they have no idea whether Melbourne will continue with them or not. Yes, Malayan Tapirs are ‘regionally’ phased out, but that just means that the region as a whole is no longer ‘focused’ on them as a species. Collections (like Melbourne) could very well still maintain them, they’d just lack the cooperation from most other zoos in the region.

On the other hand, I was told the Peccaries would be phased out. They’ve been on the chopping block for a while now.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I'd be just as happy with a nocturnal house on the site of the tapir/peccary exhibits. It'd have to be on a smaller scale, but would only need to accomodate Cape porcupine and Fennec fox.
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The lack of space in such a small location is exactly why I would not want one built there. A larger nocturnal house could contain nocturnal felids, nocturnal monkeys, nocturnal marsupials, nocturnal owls and other nocturnal mammals. It could really boost the diversity of the zoo's collection.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
The lack of space in such a small location is exactly why I would not want one built there. A larger nocturnal house could contain nocturnal felids, nocturnal monkeys, nocturnal marsupials, nocturnal owls and other nocturnal mammals. It could really boost the diversity of the zoo's collection.
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I’d prefer to see something of that’s scale at WORZ, where space isn’t as much of an issue
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
The lack of space in such a small location is exactly why I would not want one built there. A larger nocturnal house could contain nocturnal felids, nocturnal monkeys, nocturnal marsupials, nocturnal owls and other nocturnal mammals. It could really boost the diversity of the zoo's collection.
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I guess the thing to consider is how much of an attraction a nocturnal house would be. Moonlit is an hour away and already provides experiences Melbourne would struggle to compete with (with regards to natives).

Their best best is to build a small scale nocturnal house to display 2-3 African species. It will be a point of difference; as well as being space efficient.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
Apologies, I was relying on your August 2022 post in the Australasian Tapir Population thread.

I had assumed this was confirmed.
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My wording there wasn't exactly the best there. I was more so referring to the region phasing them out as a whole. :) Melbourne still could be for all we know, but the indication I got from keepers was there were no plans whatsoever at the present (which can indicate a phase out).
 
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