Melbourne Zoo Melbourne 2013 news

Isn't the giraffe house heritage listed? It would need to be incorporated somehow. Is there any sort of survey that has recorded how long people watch a particular animal? JUst going by my own memory I remember that most people would just look quikly at the giraffe and thenmove on whereas the elephants would hold their attention for longer. I was wondering if this then has been quantified at all.
 
I agree Jay; all animals are captivating in their own way when displayed in natural settings. But I dont think that either Melbourne Zoo or Taronga for that matter do this species justice. I think from my own observations at MZ that people tend to just drift by the giraffe exhibit, whilst as you noted, people stand for ages observing the elephants.
They truly are an attraction there.
If the giraffe house is heritage listed, I am confident some sort of compromise could be reached to preserve it and incorporate it into the exhibit.
 
Melbourne Zoo Updates

I visited the zoo yesterday, here is some small news:

-The Squirrel Monkeys and Cotton-top Tamarins have swapped enclosures, which now means the tamarins are as good as off-display for the general public!
-They have made significant progress on the new "Islands" exhibit (new enclosures for Ring-tailed Lemurs and Goodfellows Tree Kangaroos at the start of the African Rainforest trail, presumably replacing the male gorilla troop housing). I wish they were just going to have their two lemur species on these islands, as that would be a much better display.
-The Spider Monkeys are still off-display, and I think this is because their netted enclosure appears to have partially collapsed!
-A single Nanday Conure was on display in the aviary previously housing a flock of Sun Conures, which were absent.
-Work is being carried out on the Philippine Crocodile enclosure in the reptile house, perhaps to allow a seperate exhibit for the hatchlings.
-The baby Bongo is growing up, but still super-cute, was right up by the fence with its mother, so we got a great view of it.
-Nakuru, the new female giraffe from Auckland Zoo, was in the giraffe enclosure with the other two occupants, although feeding seperately from them. She looks so much smaller than the adults!

I will upload a couple of photos from my visit later this afternoon.
 
nice conservation story about a fantastic wee marsupial (video on the link as well):
Eastern Barred Bandicoots return home | Zoos Victoria
2 July 2013

After eight years, a new population of Eastern Barred Bandicoots were returned to Woodlands Historic Park last week as part of the recovery project to save the species from extinction.

Woodlands was previously home to a large reintroduced population of about 600 bandicoots in the mid-1990s but the area became overun by kangaroos and foxes causing the bandicoots to become extinct in the area by 2005.

Zoos Victoria alongside project partners the Department of Environment and Primary Industry, Parks Victoria and Conservation Volunteers have worked hard to reintroduce the species back into Woodlands. The construction of a new fox-proof fence and the removal of foxes from within this protected area will provide a safe habitat and space for several hundred bandicoots in the future.

Zoos Victoria provided 16 healthy captive-born animals for the release, also providing veterinary checks for a further 16 animals sourced from free-ranging populations protected by predator-proof fences at Hamilton and Mt Rothwell.

All mainland Eastern Barred Bandicoots, currently listed as ‘extinct in the wild’, are descended from a group of animals bred at Melbourne Zoo in the early 1990s. Without the long-term commitment and care through Zoos Victoria's captive-breeding program, the mainland bandicoot would be lost forever.

The reintroduction of Eastern Barred Bandicoots to Woodlands is a significant step forward in the recovery of the species. Future releases of bandicoots to Woodlands are planned to assist population growth and maintain the genetic diversity with ongoing monitoring of the group also planned.
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nanoboy said:
"As long as [Zoos Victoria] have elephants, giraffes and zebras at Melbourne Zoo instead of Werribee [Open Range Zoo], then they're putting commercialism first, not welfare.''

He makes a fair point.
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I feel the same way myself. I don't see why people can't drive that little bit farther to visit elephants in an open range zoo rather than have them in a more 'convenient' but probably less suitable location. I've always been bothered that Adelaide Zoo holds two giraffe in such a small enclosure when they could be housed at Monarto (sorry for jumping to SA, just using an example of a similar thing). That was a very interesting article.
 
RIP Kashmir

Im sad to report that Kashmir, the last Persian Leopard at Melbourne Zoo died on July 15th. She was 22 years old and was well loved and will be sadly missed.
 
Grant Rhino said:
Im sad to report that Kashmir, the last Persian Leopard at Melbourne Zoo died on July 15th. She was 22 years old and was well loved and will be sadly missed.
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No way!! Wasn't there two just a couple years ago? Or am I thinking about the snow leopards?
 
nanoboy said:
No way!! Wasn't there two just a couple years ago? Or am I thinking about the snow leopards?
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I think you're probably thinking of snow leopards. For Persian leopards there were two left, the one at Adelaide died in 2010 and the other was the Melbourne one.
 
Jarkari said:
What are (or were) the leopards at crocodylus?
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The last one was listed as a Persian at end of 2007. I presume it died in 2008. AFAIK the Persian at Melbourne was the last of its subspecies, and Australia is now down to just one leopard - at Gorge.
 
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