Werribee Open Range Zoo Future of Werribee Open Range Zoo (Speculation/Fantasy)

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Zoofan15 said:
I think the natural progression for Werribee (long term, since we know their immediate plans) is to develop an Asian plains precinct. It could be differentiated from Monarto’s plans to do the same by the addition of Indian rhinoceros. With their role in the ARP and additional focus on black rhino, I doubt Monarto will be considering this species.

This could even include Sri Lankan leopard; which like the Indian rhino, Asian elephant, Indian antelope and nilgai, is from South Asia. Melbourne would continue with South East Asia.
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Of these Asian species, which would be able to cohabitate with each other? I assume all of the larger ubgulates would be fine with the antelope, but would any of the rhinos, elephants and water buffalo be fine in with each other?
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Of these Asian species, which would be able to cohabitate with each other? I assume all of the larger ubgulates would be fine with the antelope, but would any of the rhinos, elephants and water buffalo be fine in with each other?
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I think it’s unlikely Werribee would mix elephants and rhinos. There’s a huge potential of risk to both species (especially calves) and the PR fall out would be disastrous.

I would say:

Asian elephant bull (alone)
Indian rhinoceros bull (alone)
Nilgai bull (alone)
Asian elephant cows/calves (with Indian antelope and nilgai)
Indian rhinoceros cows/calves (with Indian antelope and nilgai)
Aaaa
 
Zoofan15 said:
I think it’s unlikely Werribee would mix elephants and rhinos. There’s a huge potential of risk to both species (especially calves) and the PR fall out would be disastrous.

I would say:

Asian elephant bull (alone)
Indian rhinoceros bull (alone)
Nilgai bull (alone)
Asian elephant cows/calves (with Indian antelope and nilgai)
Indian rhinoceros cows/calves (with Indian antelope and nilgai)
Aaaa
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What about water buffalo. I assume they’d be fine with the antelope but what about rhinos/elephants
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
What about water buffalo. I assume they’d be fine with the antelope but what about rhinos/elephants
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They’d be fine with antelopes, but I wouldn’t risk them with elephant calves. A zoo in Brazil mixes them with Asian elephants, but they only have adults in the exhibit:

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Photo by @MonkeyBat
 

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Zoofan15 said:
They’d be fine with antelopes, but I wouldn’t risk them with elephant calves. A zoo in Brazil mixes them with Asian elephants, but they only have adults in the exhibit:

View attachment 658491
Photo by @MonkeyBat
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And I assume the bulls would probably be too aggressive with the buffalo then. Who knows, if they have non breeding females they could temporarily leave them on exhibit together
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Is there any chance of WORZ continuing with addax? I doubt Himalayan Tahr are in the works b it I’d love to see them in Victoria. I anticipate the arrival of Barbary sheep sooner rather than later. Domestic water buffalo seem a decent choice as you stated, potentially offering an opening for banteng, which we know fit zoos Victoria criteria. We now expect to see kudu, sable and potentially impala return to the region, all fitting Werribee.
Another note: Werribee seems to be lagging behind Monarto, at this stage there’s not much WORZ does better than monarto
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Werribee does landscaping far better. Monarto is an amazing facility but Werribee is a far more attractive one. Otherwise - Monarto dominates. I loved my day there.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
Werribee does landscaping far better. Monarto is an amazing facility but Werribee is a far more attractive one. Otherwise - Monarto dominates. I loved my day there.
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Where Monarto excels is numbers:

Werribee has a small breeding pride of lions; Monarto has the region’s largest lion pride.

Werribee has a small bachelor herd of giraffe; Monarto has the largest breeding herd in the region.

Werribee has a bachelor trio of gorillas; Monarto has the region’s second largest chimpanzee troop.

Werribee will have a sorority trio of hippo; Monarto are aiming for a cohesive pod of up to eight hippos.

Asian elephants are the first example of Werribee going massive, compared to other open range zoos.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Where Monarto excels is numbers:

Werribee has a small breeding pride of lions; Monarto has the region’s largest lion pride.

Werribee has a small bachelor herd of giraffe; Monarto has the largest breeding herd in the region.

Werribee has a bachelor trio of gorillas; Monarto has the region’s second largest chimpanzee troop.

Werribee will have a sorority trio of hippo; Monarto are aiming for a cohesive pod of up to eight hippos.

Asian elephants are the first example of Werribee going massive, compared to other open range zoos.
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The lower Savannah is quite good in terms of zebra, eland and oryx, but waterbuck are another example of lacking in numbers. Do we know if WORZ are planning to have a breeding pod of hippos? You said there was an empty ‘ middle’ hippo exhibit, so that could mean more space right? Also, do they plan on breeding the Nyala and eland?
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
The lower Savannah is quite good in terms of zebra, eland and oryx, but waterbuck are another example of lacking in numbers. Do we know if WORZ are planning to have a breeding pod of hippos? You said there was an empty ‘ middle’ hippo exhibit, so that could mean more space right? Also, do they plan on breeding the Nyala and eland?
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How many Waterbuck are there? When I was there earlier this year I thought the herd was a decent size. I could be misremembering though.
 
The Sleepy Hippo said:
How many Waterbuck are there? When I was there earlier this year I thought the herd was a decent size. I could be misremembering though.
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I think it’s maximum ten, probably less than that, but don’t quote me. How many do you remember?
Edit:Are the herd of scimitar oryx at WORZ currently breeding, or separated into male and female groups. Are the eland breeding too?
 
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PaddyRickMFZ said:
I think it’s maximum ten, probably less than that, but don’t quote me. How many do you remember?
Edit:Are the herd of scimitar oryx at WORZ currently breeding, or separated into male and female groups. Are the eland breeding too?
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Last I heard, Werribee had a bachelor herd of seven male scimitar-horned oryx and a main herd numbering in the mid-20’s. No calves appear to have been born in the past two years.
 
Zoofan15 said:
In January 2023, @Jambo noted the bachelor herd were in the off display paddocks. They’d previously been housed in the lower savannah; with the main herd in the arid zone. I don’t know whether that is still the case.
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There seemed to be very few, less than 10, in the arid zone, with a plethora in the lower Savannah. Honestly though my memory could be playing up
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
There seemed to be very few, less than 10, in the arid zone, with a plethora in the lower Savannah. Honestly though my memory could be playing up
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In that case, I’d say they’ve switched. Looking back on media reports, Werribee tends to breed their scimitar-horned oryx to calve in the warmer months (October to January), so we may be going into a calving season.

I note the last births were almost two years ago. Reproductive maturity is attained at 18 months, so it figures that the last offspring are now mature and housed in either the bachelor herd or main herd. The females could be about to give birth again in the coming months.
 
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