Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo News 2023

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Abbey said:
Has anyone else noticed that the Zoos Victoria websites seem to be down at the moment? When I try to open them, they don't load anything other than a white screen.
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They’re currently working fine for me, so might have been a temporary outage or an update.

On that note, it’d be nice if Zoos Victoria made more of an effort to update their medium profile species like baboons on their website with information on individuals at the zoo. This information is there for elephants, but few other species, yet is the thing the general public are most interested in rather than generic animals facts we can find on the internet.
 
Asha and Manju have left Melbourne Zoo:

Their arrival has been reported by Wellington Zoo, where they’re now completing their post-arrival quarantine.

Their departure leaves Melbourne Zoo with 1.2 Snow leopards, including their parents who will hopefully breed again in the next couple of years.
 
New male Siamang arrives:

As reported by @PaddyRickMFZ in the speculation thread, a Siamang has been transferred in from Mogo Zoo. His arrival takes Melbourne Zoo’s population to 2.2 Siamang, which includes their older pair and their daughter, Kemala (born 2018).

Mogo have several males, but the most likely candidate is Koto, who was born 2014. According to the latest gibbon population list, he’s the closest in age of Mogo’s males to Kemala (his intended mate).

Siamang mate for life, so it’d be preferable to pair Kemala with Koto rather than one of his brothers at Mogo, who are born 2002, 2009, and 2011. This way, Koto and Kemala can hopefully have a lifetime together.

Like his older brothers, Koto has witnessed the raising of a younger sibling, which will prepare him for fatherhood in the future.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
A female Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat has been born at Melbourne Zoo. The joey has been named Alkira and is on show in the Australian Bush precinct: Log into Facebook | Facebook
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Awesome news! :)

It’s good to see successful breeding following the acquisition of Kipp back in early 2021.

This is Melbourne’s first Joey in seven years; and the mum is either that said Joey or her older sister.
 
Jambo said:
The new male Saimang is named 1.0 Batak (22/09/2011) Armstrong x Fern from Mogo as mentioned by in the Gibbon population thread.
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Interesting to hear they chose Batak over Koto, who is three years younger and also had the experience of seeing a sibling raised - Armstrong and Fern had a son born 2017.

The 2017 infant (Loki) appears to have disappeared from records (presumed dead), so perhaps Batak’s education (observing the raising of Koto) was considered more complete.

In any case, three years is a pretty negligible discrepancy in a species that can live into their 40’s - so Batak and Kemala will hopefully have a long life together regardless of their seven year age gap.

1.0 Jambi (Armstong x Fern) 13-09-2002 at Edinburgh Zoo, UK
1.0 Figaro (Armstrong x Fern) 13-07-2009 at Mogo Wildlife Park
1.0 Batak (Armstrong x Fern) 22-09-2011 at Mogo Wildlife Park
1.0 Koto (Armstrong x Fern) 00-09-2014 at Mogo Wildlife Park
 
As mentioned in the Ballarat thread;
Melbourne has sent them 1.0 Tasmanian Devil, Graham.

This should leave Melbourne with 1.1 Tasmanian Devil in the Carnivores Trail (if there hasn’t been any recent deaths/transfers).

I believe Graham was the male that lived in the former Koala enclosure next to the Wombats. He only arrived a couple of years ago (presumably from Healesville).

Hopefully this move indicates a renovation to this area which I assume will be next on the list for renovations.
 
Elephant calf update:

Melbourne Zoo have shared a brief update/video on their elephant calves.

It’s nice to see Roi-Yim being given more freedom by Mali, who was highly protective compared to the other two mothers in the first few weeks.

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Our precious Asian Elephant calves are growing in confidence, with all three now brave enough to venture into the deep pool to play!

This is an exciting milestone for the calves’ development, as we prepare for the big Elephant move from Melbourne Zoo to Werribee Open Range Zoo in 2024.

Their new purpose-built, 21-hectare habitat will include expansive plains to roam and plenty of larger watering holes for the whole herd to enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=267548515836677
 
Zoofan15 said:
Elephant calf update:

Melbourne Zoo have shared a brief update/video on their elephant calves.

It’s nice to see Roi-Yim being given more freedom by Mali, who was highly protective compared to the other two mothers in the first few weeks.

—————————

Our precious Asian Elephant calves are growing in confidence, with all three now brave enough to venture into the deep pool to play!

This is an exciting milestone for the calves’ development, as we prepare for the big Elephant move from Melbourne Zoo to Werribee Open Range Zoo in 2024.

Their new purpose-built, 21-hectare habitat will include expansive plains to roam and plenty of larger watering holes for the whole herd to enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=267548515836677
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Great to see they're doing well.

It seems they've progressed from the relatively shallow pool in the main cow paddock to the slightly deeper one in Luk Chai's paddock. Next step would be the 3.5 metre deep pool in Man Jai's paddock; although I wouldn't expect them to be allowed there for at least another six or so months.
 
Jambo said:
Great to see they're doing well.

It seems they've progressed from the relatively shallow pool in the main cow paddock to the slightly deeper one in Luk Chai's paddock. Next step would be the 3.5 metre deep pool in Man Jai's paddock; although I wouldn't expect them to be allowed there for at least another six or so months.
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Considering the bulls will be transferring to Werribee first, they may even delay giving the calves access to that paddock until then. The calves will be approaching 18 months of age by the middle of next year and opening up all three paddocks to them will relieve the pressure on the cow paddock, which will be looking even more cramped than it is now by that stage.

The Werribee complex looks magnificent and it’ll be so exciting to see the elephants (in particular the matriarchal herd) utilise it.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Considering the bulls will be transferring to Werribee first, they may even delay giving the calves access to that paddock until then. The calves will be approaching 18 months of age by the middle of next year and opening up all three paddocks to them will relieve the pressure on the cow paddock, which will be looking even more cramped than it is now by that stage.

The Werribee complex looks magnificent and it’ll be so exciting to see the elephants (in particular the matriarchal herd) utilise it.
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Do you mean the design looks magnificent? Or have there been phot updates of its progress in development?
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Where can we see the designs for said paddocks?
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It’s just this bird’s eye schematic that was posted a couple of years ago.

It outlines the basic plans including a sizeable pool for the largest paddock; and ring-a-ring a rosy gates (also used at Dubbo) in a couple of others, which are useful for breeding introductions.

In addition to these six paddocks, there’s off display holding yards - some comparable in size to Melbourne’s current elephant exhibits. These will be useful in managing multiple groupings long term.

The capacity is 40 elephants (with the majority housed in the matriarchal herd), so they can easily accomodate Putra Mas from Perth; as well as future bull calves born on site.

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The Sleepy Hippo said:
I'd love to see the exhibit evolve into a mixed species exhibit once it is all up and running.
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Since the Asian elephants are going to be ambassadors for their African counterparts, it’d be great to see Hamadryas baboon share their exhibit.

This combination is seen at Beekse Bergen, but imagine how many baboons Werribee’s exhibit could accomodate?

They could have filter gates between the six paddocks (some occupying elephants) to allow the baboons choices of where to go.

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Photo by @MagpieGoose
 

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Managed to get to Melbourne today, and have some updates to share:

  • Cotton Top Tamarins - Melbourne do indeed only have their former breeding pair. The offspring have all been dispatched to other facilities regionally (not sure which).
  • Melbourne only has five otters now. Not sure what's happened to one of them; they had six as of a few months ago.
  • Transport crates have been installed for the Asian Elephants to allow training to begin. The plan is to send the herd over to Werribee in different trips sometime this time next year.
  • Melbourne currently have four male Squirrel Monkeys in the TOTE exhibit. These males were initially from Taronga.
  • Kemala and Batak have been successfully introduced and were in the Saimang exhibit in Orangutan Sanctuary. The pair kept their distance from what I saw but this is obviously expected with a newly bonded pair. Kemala's parents, Sampit and Isidor have moved back to the Japanese Island.
  • There seems to be new plantings on the island opposite Orangutan Sanctuary. Wouldn't be surprised if this is for a potential Orangutan expansion; as it doesn't otherwise make sense why they would demolish a previously lush island, to then replant it again?
  • A new Tasmanian Devil is in Graham's former enclosure. Not sure where they are from or when they arrived, but I would assume they arrived from Healesville sometime earlier this year.
  • New kangaroo exhibit looks good. Huge and very well planted. Unfortunately I was told Emus would not be returning though.
  • Baboons - Chad has settled in well, and the group is still altogether. The keeper said the plan is to keep the other males in the troop long term, as this is usually the case with troops in the wild, with males running their own sub-troops (harems).
  • Snow Leopards - At the moment, there aren't any plans to breed Kang Ju and Miska this breeding season. She mentioned there would need to be regional facilities that have dedicated to holding potential cubs before a breeding recommendation can be made; and this isn't the case at the moment.
  • And finally, the big news, Melbourne no longer have Zebra. Not sure when this occurred, but it's very recent. They had four males, so my assumption is all or some of the males have been sent to Werribee. I'll have to enquire about this, but it seems to be a permanent move. This is the first time Melbourne are without Zebra in 15 years, and this might be the first time in a very long time that they will be without Zebra permanently.
 
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Jambo said:
And finally, the big news, Melbourne no longer have Zebra. Not sure when this occurred, but it's very recent. They had four males, so my assumption is all or some of the males have been sent to Werribee. I'll have to enquire about this, but it seems to be a permanent move. This is the first time Melbourne are without Zebra in 15 years, and this might be the first time in a very long time that they will be without Zebra permanently.
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Zebra phase out:

I contacted my friend who’s a regular visitor and he confirmed that Melbourne Zoo sent all their zebras to Werribee Open Range Zoo.

He confirmed it’s a permanent phase out, with no plans to source more in the future.

In my opinion, this is a positive move. The zebras did little to enhance Melbourne’s collection and can be seen at Werribee.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Zebra phase out:

I contacted my friend who’s a regular visitor and he confirmed that Melbourne Zoo sent all their zebras to Werribee Open Range Zoo.

He confirmed it’s a permanent phase out, with no plans to source more in the future.

In my opinion, this is a positive move. The zebras did little to enhance Melbourne’s collection and can be seen at Werribee.
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Assumed that to be the case, thanks for the clarification.

I don't see Melbourne redeveloping that exhibit in the meantime with the Giraffes still there, but hopefully this indicates a change going forward with Melbourne also electing to send the remaining Giraffes across to Werribee in the future.
 
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