Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo Developments

Yeah, well it irks me the way that primates, in particular, seem to come and go according to the latest fad.

I've taken stick over this before, but I'm quite cheesed about the way that De Brazza's guenon was the "hot" primate species not so long ago, and now it's on the phase-out list.

Once they adopt a species, Australasian zoos have got stick with it, not dump it for something else in 10 or 20 years time.
 
As it seems so difficult to import new species into Australia, I'm surprised that there is so much talk of existing species being 'phased out' in the region. The usual reason is because the species, be it Mandrill, Pygmy Hippo, De Brazza Guenon, etc etc, is numerically very low, or very inbred, or most of the remaining individuals are past reproductive age. Surely it should be possible to 'revive' some of these species with a few fresh imports, at least where the species is, or has been the subject of a managed breeding programme.

It seems to me the range of animals in Australian zoos is in danger of dwindling even further, if this trend continues. The danger is obviously, once they disappear, they won't come back. Mandrills are just one example of a species it would be relatively easy to enliven the existing small population with just a couple of fresh imports..
 
grantsmb said:
The danger is obviously, once they disappear, they won't come back.
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well not necessarily, we recently saw the return of dhole to australia, after only a 5 or more year hiatus.

though i'm not saying it should be encouraged as such managment can, but not always does, create genetic "dead ends" which isn't a good thing when your trying to preserve genetic diversity. however, as i've said before though australian zoos usually always offer there breedable phase-out animals to overseas collections, only to be politely refused as the animals ancestry was from that region anyway.

i actually think that australian zoos collection will crash, really really badly. we will then see a gradual increase in species only this time hopefully each new species being imported will be coming in under the conditions of a proper conservation breeding program with a solid commitment from multiple zoos.

brazilian tapir are on the cards for a revitalisation in the region with imports planned and numerous zoos getting back on board. same goes for giant anteater and capybrara, two species which died out here.

we just recently attempted to kick start breeding indian rhino in australia (all be so far somewhat disasterous).

its not THAT bad...

you have to remember how few zoos there are. in the end all our zoos will have decent collections, as far as an individual zoo goes. they will just be near ideantical to every other zoo in the region. match an australian zoo against a european zoo one on one and the collection sizes will be comparable. pitch all of europes zoos against all of australias and we are our zoos look pathetic. but thats what you get when you have a country with just four major city zoos and 3 open range ones....

we'll still have the only zoos in the world with platypus!!! :D
 
and all our zoos dohave excellent exhibits showcasing our indigenous wildlife. across Australia, a large percentage of zoo visitors are foreign tourists so they probably arent going to miss seeing animals they can see in their home zoo.
large collections of native animals with emphasis on indigenous fauna (by strengthening networks with other local wildlife agencies) and a relatively small range of well managed and principally endangered exotic fauna suits me.
the situation for mandrills probably isnt that bleak. i would say they will never disappear from Melbourne Zoo, or Adelaide and will most likely pop up at Taronga again within 5-10 years.
they are the sort of species which will probably filter down to small zoos like Mogo, Canberra and perhaps even Australia Zoo in the future.
any primate in this country part of more than one or two zoos long-term collection plans does have a future. The primate TAG is one of the mostly highly coordinated in the region and due to the fact that they can, like carnivores be imported relatively freely BUT can also be managed in small to medium to large groups unlike carnivores such as big cats and bears. it would be way easier to build up a sustaining population of mandrills amongst a small number of zoos than it would be to build up from existing or new stock a population of say hyeana.
 
A story in the sports section of today's Sydney Daily Telegraph tells of a greyhound being flown from Sydney to Melbourne a couple of days ago which has had to be scratched from its race in Melbourne this weekend due to it having got into an altercation with a pair of baboons in the cargo hold of the plane. According to the paper, "the baboons were being sent to the zoo."

Anyone know of any baboons being sent to Melbourne? Werribee?
 
dunno - werribee have no place for baboons and i know of no sydney zoo with them. could have been coming from rockhampton via sydney?
 
glyn said:
The situation for mandrills probably isnt that bleak. i would say they will never disappear from Melbourne Zoo, or Adelaide and will most likely pop up at Taronga again within 5-10 years.
they are the sort of species which will probably filter down to small zoos like Mogo, Canberra and perhaps even Australia Zoo in the future.
any primate in this country part of more than one or two zoos long-term collection plans does have a future.
That's good to hear. I just thought it was a shame if relatively free- breeding species which are also good exhibits were being lost because of problems of recruiting even a few new animals to the small populations.
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especially, when i know it sounds bad, but we will really not be a great player in a breeding program invloved with europe or us, so why carnt we have a few of there genetically over rep'd animals, for own own needs, for display and eduactional purposes, cause by the way it sounds, many of our australian species are internationally reconised, eg) giraffe, we are now breeding for display only!
 
there are many private help primates, it is now illegal to aquire them, but people who have them, had them from before regualtions, and they are to house them, and delete them attrition.

bullens still have a troop, as well as glyn said yes a uni in sydney.
 
Latest news.....baby Siamang born to Isidor and Sanpit on 21/11/07. Sex unknown (no-one has accessed the baby yet and mum is doing well....although current offspring, Oliver, seems to be a bit jealous.)

Also.....baby PECCARIES.....can't wait to see those. They're about two days old.

Two new otters arrived from Canberra......they've been placed in the old otter exhibit (which became the new binturong exhibit until one of them escaped and I know refer to it as the 'new old otter exhibit'.) More male otters are to follow.

New windows in the tree top monkeys are being installed in the next two weeks. They won't be angled like the old one but they will ALMOST touch the ground providing improved access for people in wheel chairs, little children and little people in general.

An 'elephant touch' experience is being trialled (hasn't started yet)....more info if and when it comes to hand.

Kangaroo feeds were trialled and provided there are enough people on hand there will two opportunities each day to hand feed KI kangaroos.

"Stories of the Sea" or the new marine precinct will undergo a name change. (Patrick will be pleased.....hopefully we'll get your 'seal' of approval.....har har.) It will start with a Sand Dune type area, moving on to an Estuary (pelicans, eels, pelican feeds and presentations). From here you reach a "Beach Zone" where there will be no animals but some interactive stuff. The zoo has got a hold of some 'bits' of Porsea Pier (which is currently being refurbished).

From the "beach Zone" you enter the "Rocky Shore" zone which will contain Fiddler Rays and some imitation 'blow hole' type things. From here you enter "The Deep". There will be a large underwater viewing area (the seals will get about 4m of water to dive in - a massive change to the current metre and half or so) and an aquarium area with lobsters. There will be giant kelp forest for kids to explore (not in the water) and setaing for about 200 people for larger seal presentations. There are no plans to introduce further species other than the current Australian Fur and Sub Antarctic Fur Seals.

Penguins will also have an underwater and above ground viewing area so they'll have something more to swim in compared with their current 'paddling pool'.

There'll be lots of learning space with messages, conservation messages and connections to community groups and marine parks as well as information on sustainable seafood, etc.


Anyway, that's all I can tell you for now.......I'm very excited about the baby peccaries.....
 
great news all round zookiah!!!

firstly, yes i am very, very please that the marine precinct will not be called "stories of the sea" - it was a lameo name that reminded me of a childrens book series. there is no "stories" being told here. a message, maybe....

your description of the precinct sounds exciting. i'm very interested to hear that they will be including aquarium elements such as rays and invertebrates. should make for something exciting.

new otters was something i was expecting. with two empty hippo pools plus the "new old otter exhibit", they are finally in a position to breed otter again, something they have needed for awhile as their numbers have dwindled significantly at the zoo. thats also good news.

i am also looking forward to seeing the new baby siamang and the peccaries. it was my understanding that melbourne was not breeding thiers anymore. should be cute.

thanks zookiah, alsways appreciate your updates...
 
Aaah, Patrick. Somehow I knew you'd be the first to respond.

The new 'marine precinct' sounds very interesting and I'm looking forward to it. I think the idea is that most Australians love the beach and sea and to appreciate what's out there and how to look after it. The 'pollution' message has been covered so this will be a bit different.

The penguins have probably never been in a pool where their feet don't touch the bottom so it will be interesting to see how they react.

The new otters are male and the additional ones will be males as well and they're about 6-7 years old. There are still no plans to breed otters (so no 'baybees' there)....although who knows.....our mandrill gave birth even though she had an implant and the baby peccaries were a surprise, too and I'm pretty sure the siamang baby was not planned.

So there's some wierd fertility thing happening at the zoo.....maybe I should stay away for a while....fingers crossed for some of our other larger mammals to conceive...we all know which ones.

I am really glad those windows in tree tops are being addressed....the temporary ones were awful and it was difficult to see anything.
 
zookiah63 said:
So there's some wierd fertility thing happening at the zoo.....maybe I should stay away for a while....fingers crossed for some of our other larger mammals to conceive...we all know which ones.
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If it was the Gorillas then I'd be the first to respond....:)

Marine exhibit sounds like 'Wild Coasts' to me...;)
 
"wild coasts".... was that a name suggestion grant?

i actually like tarongas best "great southern oceans"...but then again i'm a geographical zoo-nazi!! :)

glad to hear otter are again going into the otter exhibit. i think they should move the white-cheeked gibbons to the old siamang island (now being used by the neigbouring islands lemurs) and put a binturong in the treetop apes exhibit. they would be appreciated there as nobody really visits small cats. new roof to floor glass will be fantastic!!! i love treetop monkeys and apes, just think most of the exhibits are too small for the larger monkeys and apes!!! the colobus enclosure is an exception, but the exhibit despeately needs some new climbing trees in there. there is a door in the side of the enclosure, so i imagine some pretty tall saplings could be installed without removing the mesh.


has there ever been mention of what comes after the marine precinct? who gets a facelift next?
 
patrick said:
"wild coasts".... was that a name suggestion grant?
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erm no..(all right, it was sort of... but its too weak) It needs a name with preferably three words like the Taronga one has. I agree 'Stories of the Sea' has a bit of a 'fairytale' ring to it.

Okay, perhaps you should invite some suggestions on the Forum and then forward the best one on to the Zoo. ;)
 
zookipha do you ahve pics or info on the exhibit? (also yes i am on schoolies, and yes still thi9nking zoos!)
 
Zoo Boy, I don't have any pictures. The information I received was from a slide show presentation and it was mostly design drawings.....so it's highly likely there will be some modifications.

Patrick, the new otters aren't breeders. The two new otters are two males from Canberra and we're getting some additional males. It would be great to have a breeding group (I'd imagine baby otters to be the cutest thing ever....). But thankfully we now have some younger animals to replace the existing (aging) group.

As there's so much happening with the new marine precinct there's not even a whisper of any other developments. But if I hear anything, naturally I'll let you know.

The new glass has been installed in tree tops.....it's a great improvement on those nasty temporary perspex "port holes". It opens up the area a bit as well.

.....I haven't seen the baby peccaries yet.....although yesterday was hot and windy and the peccaries were at the rear of the exhibit.....maybe next time.
 
A hint at whats to come?.....

taken from an education resource from melbourne zoo...

"The long-range plan for Melbourne Zoo is to remove older exhibits where
possible and construct new ones. The zoo will be reorganized into precincts
that are themed Rainforest, Trail of the Elephants, Australian Bush, Minute to
Magnificent, Stories from the Sea and Going Wild. The end product will
present a strong conservation image that reflects Melbourne Zoo as a 21st
Century Zoo."

whats this? the african rainforest to become a permanent generic "Rainforest"?

and whats this "Minute to Magnificent" and "Going Wild" rubbish?

WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! :mad:

i want my geographical zoning!
 
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