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

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Zorro said:
Why not look to Japan I believe they also had imported some ST from Indonesia round about the same time as AZ!
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I believe Japan only received one Sumatran tiger from Indonesia, a female born 2007, and it doesn’t appear she’s ever bred. Importing from Japan could still be a good idea though, as I see they have several descendants of the Kerinci line and they’d be a lot easier to import from than the US.

Though I would never advocate capturing wild animals; with the captive Sumatran tiger population becoming increasingly inbred, it’d be nice to see a greater number of unreleasable wild born tigers (or first generation offspring) allowed out of Indonesia.
 
Hey everyone.

I'm heading down to Melbourne this Friday for the weekend I'll be visiting Melbourne zoo on Saturday.

I've booked an orangutan experience and will be sure to ask about the import of a female and the potential expansion of their current exhibit.

Is there anything else you'd like me to try to find out about that hasn't been answered already?
 
Patrick Keegan said:
Hey everyone.

I'm heading down to Melbourne this Friday for the weekend I'll be visiting Melbourne zoo on Saturday.

I've booked an orangutan experience and will be sure to ask about the import of a female and the potential expansion of their current exhibit.

Is there anything else you'd like me to try to find out about that hasn't been answered already?
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I have this list (which includes quite a few primate questions).

The orangutan encounter is fantastic from what I’ve heard from others and great value for money.

Enjoy your trip!

Melbourne Zoo Questions

1. Where did Squid (otter) go? She left the zoo earlier this year, but we never found out what facility she went to.

2. Any Hamadryas baboon pregnancies (or infants)?

3. They mentioned Chad (new male baboon from Perth) would be the breeding male. Does that mean the other males are vasectomised to ensure only Chad sires infants?

4. Are Melbourne still planning to breed their snow leopards in the next year? I.e. has a breeding recommendation been given?

5. Has a reason been determined for Kimya’s (gorilla) apparent infertility? Are there any imminent plans to source more females?

6. What will be going in the vacant mandrill/cassowary exhibit?
 
Zoofan15 said:
I have this list (which includes quite a few primate questions).

The orangutan encounter is fantastic from what I’ve heard from others and great value for money.

Enjoy your trip!

Melbourne Zoo Questions

1. Where did Squid (otter) go? She left the zoo earlier this year, but we never found out what facility she went to.

2. Any Hamadryas baboon pregnancies (or infants)?

3. They mentioned Chad (new male baboon from Perth) would be the breeding male. Does that mean the other males are vasectomised to ensure only Chad sires infants?

4. Are Melbourne still planning to breed their snow leopards in the next year? I.e. has a breeding recommendation been given?

5. Has a reason been determined for Kimya’s (gorilla) apparent infertility? Are there any imminent plans to source more females?

6. What will be going in the vacant mandrill/cassowary exhibit?
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I'll be sure to get As many of those answered as I can.
 
Zorro said:
Patrick would you please ask what's happening with their Gorillas, with the SSP & and the EEP holding at capacity ATM why can't they take a few of the excess from them?
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That’s a good question and reminds me to ask if there’s any plans for Taronga’s females (Frala and Johari) to transfer to Melbourne @Patrick Keegan. With Covid well and truly behind us, it remains the only reasonable explanation as to why they haven’t taken the initiative to import from Europe.
 
Patrick Keegan said:
Hey everyone.

I'm heading down to Melbourne this Friday for the weekend I'll be visiting Melbourne zoo on Saturday.

I've booked an orangutan experience and will be sure to ask about the import of a female and the potential expansion of their current exhibit.

Is there anything else you'd like me to try to find out about that hasn't been answered already?
Click to expand...
Orangutan encounter is amazing, and certainly worth the money. :) Keepers there would probably be the right people to ask any primate related questions as they're usually senior keepers too!

I would also be keen to see what exactly there is on the cards for replacing the elephants - this could tie in with the orangutan expansion question.

Would also be interested to see whether there are plans to breed Kemala and her new mate and the pair of WC Gibbons.

Thanks a heap!:)
 
Jambo said:
Orangutan encounter is amazing, and certainly worth the money. :) Keepers there would probably be the right people to ask any primate related questions as they're usually senior keepers too!

I would also be keen to see what exactly there is on the cards for replacing the elephants - this could tie in with the orangutan expansion question.

Would also be interested to see whether there are plans to breed Kemala and her new mate and the pair of WC Gibbons.

Thanks a heap!:)
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Noted
 
Jambo said:
Yes, it certainly does! I remember feeding Santan from up there.

When you visited in July, did you feed the saimangs there?
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We most certainly did!
Thinking about it, I do think that if the Orang'utans do get an expansion, and aerial pathways, it would be cool to build a high ropes/ suspension bridge paths in the same area, for visitors to go along in a paid experience.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
We most certainly did!
Thinking about it, I do think that if the Orang'utans do get an expansion, and aerial pathways, it would be cool to build a high ropes/ suspension bridge paths in the same area, for visitors to go along in a paid experience.
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The Sleepy Hippo said:
I think I meant swing bridges.
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Time for Melbourne Zoo to up their game:

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Seriously though, it would be nice to have something that’s on eye level with the orangutans, I’m just not sure how reliable it’d be in getting them to use it. The only way to do it is to motivate them with food at each step of the way and even then there’s no guarantees.

Auckland Zoo allow their orangutans out into the exhibit with immediate access to the aerial rope line. A typical scenario is they take half an hour to decide to go up it; and then spend a minimum of an hour sitting at the top of the first tower surveying the view.
 

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Zoofan15 said:
Time for Melbourne Zoo to up their game:

View attachment 661171

Seriously though, it would be nice to have something that’s on eye level with the orangutans, I’m just not sure how reliable it’d be in getting them to use it. The only way to do it is to motivate them with food at each step of the way and even then there’s no guarantees.

Auckland Zoo allow their orangutans out into the exhibit with immediate access to the aerial rope line. A typical scenario is they take half an hour to decide to go up it; and then spend a minimum of an hour sitting at the top of the first tower surveying the view.
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Oh it would be great too if they were on their paths at the same time, but I think the concept could work as well if they are on the ground, and could also go above a few other enclosures, like the giraffes and tigers as well.
 
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The Sleepy Hippo said:
Oh it would be great too if they were on their paths at the same time, but I think the concept could work as well if they are on the ground, and could also go above a few other enclosures, like the giraffes and tigers as well.
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Would certainly be an interesting concept if it could be implemented in the right way!

Although unlikely, I'm intruiged to see as to what would be the best monorail route you would think for Melbourne, if a monorail was to ever be built there?
 
Jambo said:
No, that was a genuine question. :D
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I may be advocating a canopy swing bridge walk, but I would never support a monorail! Never I say!!!

I would close Essendon Airport, and hand it over to Disney to build a boutique Disneyland (about same size as Hong Kong, and the monorail can run down the Tullamarine from Melbourne Airport, to Disneyland Melbourne, to the Zoo, Southern Cross Station, and then down to St Kilda, where at the Triangle site (next to Luna Park and the Palais Theatre) where a new bigger and better Aquarium would be built!
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
I may be advocating a canopy swing bridge walk, but I would never support a monorail! Never I say!!!

I would close Essendon Airport, and hand it over to Disney to build a boutique Disneyland (about same size as Hong Kong, and the monorail can run down the Tullamarine from Melbourne Airport, to Disneyland Melbourne, to the Zoo, Southern Cross Station, and then down to St Kilda, where at the Triangle site (next to Luna Park and the Palais Theatre) where a new bigger and better Aquarium would be built!
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Monrails have been popular at zoos overseas including Chester Zoo (twice the size of Melbourne Zoo) and the Bronx Zoo (five times the size of Melbourne Zoo).

It would serve little practical purpose at a zoo Melbourne’s size, but I see no reason it wouldn’t be an asset to Monarto; or potentially Werribee.
 
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