Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo Developments
- Thread starter patrick
- Start date
Where do the Liontailed Macaques at Melbourne currently live, and how many are there?
A word of warning- if they are a reasonable number and put in an enclosure with ground vegetation, they will likely reduce it to hard bare earth in quite a short time.
Ara, it's the south east corner, and yes, they're still there. The argument is that they come from a sparsly vegetated environment composed of lots of lots of rocks and sand, etc and that they have enought 'enrichment' items to keep them occupied.
They seem to be doing OK and there don't seem to be any problems. There are no plans in the near future for these guys to move them or improve their enclosures. Despite the fact that it's the most 'depressing' enclosure these animals are great to watch.....there's always something going on in the world of the Sacred Baboon.
They seem to be doing OK and there don't seem to be any problems. There are no plans in the near future for these guys to move them or improve their enclosures. Despite the fact that it's the most 'depressing' enclosure these animals are great to watch.....there's always something going on in the world of the Sacred Baboon.
Yes, a big group of Hamadryas baboons is always a good zoo exhibit. Feeding, mating, grooming, babies riding on their mothers, not to mention the frequent squabbles and chases. But you need a big troop- 50 plus animals and a good number of adult males (each of which 'own' two or three females)- to get the full range of behaviour.
Melbourne are sitting on a good asset here but perhaps they don't know it. If they made a concrete 'baboon rock' with sanded areas etc it would provide an ideal environment for these interesting and active animals. One of the most traditional, but very best zoo exhibits....
I can think of nothing worse than 50 plus Hamadryas baboons at feeding time (or any time). I'm sure it would a health hazard with all the noise.....it would look great though....with ear plugs. There are a number of males with females at Melbourne.
Lion Tailed Macaques at Melbourne are currently in the 'tree top' monkey exhibit (with the wooden boardwalk)....I think there are four. (I'll double check on the weekend).
The monkey exhibit is getting a bit old although it's still fairly popular. The big windows were removed (due to safety reasons) and there are really awfull panels with perspex 'portholes' which makes it difficult to see any animals on the ground or low down in the enclosure. Also, the board walk can be difficult to manouvre on busy days (prams have gone the way of cars unfortunately and pushers are three times as big as they used to be with great big wheels on them).
There are plans to improve but I haven't heard anything definite other that "that area is past is use by date" and that sort of thing. The focus is on the new precinct (stories of the sea) so I'm hoping that will be next (in a couple of years or so).
Lion Tailed Macaques at Melbourne are currently in the 'tree top' monkey exhibit (with the wooden boardwalk)....I think there are four. (I'll double check on the weekend).
The monkey exhibit is getting a bit old although it's still fairly popular. The big windows were removed (due to safety reasons) and there are really awfull panels with perspex 'portholes' which makes it difficult to see any animals on the ground or low down in the enclosure. Also, the board walk can be difficult to manouvre on busy days (prams have gone the way of cars unfortunately and pushers are three times as big as they used to be with great big wheels on them).
There are plans to improve but I haven't heard anything definite other that "that area is past is use by date" and that sort of thing. The focus is on the new precinct (stories of the sea) so I'm hoping that will be next (in a couple of years or so).
treetop monkeys and apes is a great style of exhibit, but needs to be rebuilt. only the guereza colobus have an enclosure that is of suitable size for a groups of intellegent animals such as primates. it really would be more suited to smaller species and creatures like binturongs...
happy or not happy, the baboon exhibit at melbourne is a disgusting eyesore, and personally, i don't buy the "comes from cliffs" excuse.
they need to be moved. or at the very least, the cages should have been refurbished. i thought the ape grottoes would have been suitable but since the gorillas are staying i think they will continue to be ignored until the bears die and we will see them move to there...
but really, they need to go to werribee, they are underappreciated at melbourne but they would be a welcome addition to the open range zoo with a lot of potential and not enough attractions...
happy or not happy, the baboon exhibit at melbourne is a disgusting eyesore, and personally, i don't buy the "comes from cliffs" excuse.
they need to be moved. or at the very least, the cages should have been refurbished. i thought the ape grottoes would have been suitable but since the gorillas are staying i think they will continue to be ignored until the bears die and we will see them move to there...
but really, they need to go to werribee, they are underappreciated at melbourne but they would be a welcome addition to the open range zoo with a lot of potential and not enough attractions...
MARK
Well-Known Member
but really, they need to go to werribee, they are underappreciated at melbourne but they would be a welcome addition to the open range zoo with a lot of potential and not enough attractions...[/QUOTE]
Your quite right Pat Werribee would be a very good place to have them in a larger planned exhibit and thus adding another another needed attraction
Your quite right Pat Werribee would be a very good place to have them in a larger planned exhibit and thus adding another another needed attraction
I've said it before and I'll say it again; Melbourne is the only zoo in Australia with a half-way decent collection of monkeys.
The reason, I suspect, is that Melbourne doesn't shy away from displaying monkeys behind mesh (i.e. in cages.) Most zoos are a bit precious about this, and don't want to keep their monkeys "behind bars". The trouble is, monkeys are such agile, intelligent and, lets face it, devious little critters that they tend to "go walkabout" if not in a cage.
(Taronga's macaques used to get out all the time when kept in the old pits just north of the old elephant house.) Now Taronga's got hardly any monkeys at all.
O.K. Patrick, so we agree that the hamadryas baboon enclosure is an eyesore, and that the mandrill enclosure is good (yery good, in fact), but let's not ship everything out to the backblocks just yet. When you say that the baboons are underappreciated I assume you mean by zoo authorities - they certainly are appreciated by the public any time I've been there, although THAT enclosure certainly cops it's share of criticism.
The reason, I suspect, is that Melbourne doesn't shy away from displaying monkeys behind mesh (i.e. in cages.) Most zoos are a bit precious about this, and don't want to keep their monkeys "behind bars". The trouble is, monkeys are such agile, intelligent and, lets face it, devious little critters that they tend to "go walkabout" if not in a cage.
(Taronga's macaques used to get out all the time when kept in the old pits just north of the old elephant house.) Now Taronga's got hardly any monkeys at all.
O.K. Patrick, so we agree that the hamadryas baboon enclosure is an eyesore, and that the mandrill enclosure is good (yery good, in fact), but let's not ship everything out to the backblocks just yet. When you say that the baboons are underappreciated I assume you mean by zoo authorities - they certainly are appreciated by the public any time I've been there, although THAT enclosure certainly cops it's share of criticism.
Lots of the old established Zoos in Europe have, or had, a traditional 'Baboon Rock' often circular or rectangular design, on which to exhibit a large colony of Hamadryas baboons. They are a hugely successful exhibit, being so active and always lots going on. Far better than e.g. Langurs, Colobus which are comparatively inactive by contrast.
Some years ago Paignton Zoo in Uk built a new 'Baboon Rock'(they hadn't had one previously) along the lines of these older zoo designs. There's a large colony of baboons nowadays- of course they have to control births too(implants) as few zoos want this species. But most important, its a very popular exhibit.
Yes, that's the ideal. Then let them breed until you've got about a hundred animals.(as they live in the wild) A fantastic exhibit.
like Singapore and the bronx.
There's still a number of Hamadryas baboon colonies in European Zoos(e.g. Cologne, Artis, Munich(?) Paignton etc) too. Despite the move toward endangered species and conservation, zoos that have them know they are a very good exhibit. I've always enjoyed them, for one.
