Melbourne Zoo visit/review/updates
Had my visit to Melbourne zoo today unfortunately I didn't get many questions answered the only questions I did get answered have probably been heard and posted here before
- I asked about the breeding plans for snow leopards the only answer I got was hopefully in the near future.
- I asked about the future plans to import a female sumatran orangutan during the encounter and have been told that they're looking for a suitable mate but they need to have space as well obviously, I never got to ask about a potential expansion as everyone else had questions and before I could ask the tour ended but I can only imagine its on the cards if space is what's holding them back from importing a female.
On that note the orangutan experience was amazing i witnessed the siamang gibbons having a feed on top of the viewing deck which was a unique view we then went downstairs to see gabi the hybrid orangutan having a training session it was fascinating to learn her story and see her work out how to get nuts into her exhibit with the use of a stick and being just a metre or so away from one of these great apes was humbling.
- In addition to the info I got from asking I at least found out that the two siamangs in the orangutan sanctuary don't have breeding recommendations just yet due to being represented quite a bit regionally but they'll hopefully get one soon.
The visit overall was great it's improved a lot since my last visit in 2017 which was already great. I think the leopard Ridge which wasn't there last time certainly helps.
The snow leopards were quite active as i made my way to their exhibit as soon as i walked through the gates and spent about 15 minutes marvelling as female mishka ate her brekkie right at the viewing window with no one even passing by in the first 10 minutes. Kang Ju was also hanging around the glass for a little bit when he was first let into his enclosure which according to the volunteer I was talking with he doesn't usually do.
The three Collared peccaries were roaming even going pretty close to the fence seemingly investigating me while vocalising which I have to say wasn't what I expected to hear from them quite a bit different from your domestic pig their inevitable phase out will undoubtedly be a loss to the zoo or at least the zoochat Australian community as it seems many of the other visitors took the ****** pigs for granted and walked away after a 10 second glance.
I visited the elephant herd several times throughout the day and it was amazing seeing the 3 calves playing with each other and getting up to all sorts of antics by midday the females with calves moved into the third exhibit with luk chai then being let into the second one to explore while also eating I even witnessed him rear up on his hind legs to reach for branches off a tree which was insane.
The former zebra exhibit is now available for the giraffes to access but I'm sure this was already noted. The former tapir enclosure appeared to have some ladders and buckets in with the pool drained hopefully Reno's that'll be done soon for the nyala.
Only one colobus was viewable in the treetop primates hopefully one was just hiding it would be a shame If we lost another one or eventually the species from Melbourne.
Felix made use of the enclosure on the left side I saw him getting up from his usual enclosure on the right side and making his way to the left side enclosure so they could clean the right one and drain the pool. It works neatly hopefully won't be long till the IRA is completed and the zoo can have a hippo in each enclosure.
The former mandrill/cassowary enclosure remained empty as mentioned above i couldn't find out about plans for this exhibit the few no shows today were the sumatran tigers in both tote and lion gorge the squirrel monkeys and the Emperor tamarins. i didn't see the platypus either (though he wasn't even in the enclosure).
Overall I give Melbourne zoo a 9/10 it easily has the best layout of the four main city zoos and innovative exhibits that get you up close and personal with the animals. many of these precincts are decades old and yet still hold up to this day and were truly ahead of their time almost every animal we encountered was active. The only thing they could improve is obviously species diversity but with binturongs back on site and nyala hopefully on their way I can see them going up for that. they're gonna have a challenge though when the elephants move to werribee next year I'm sure the addition of sloth bear and dare I say clouded leopard may definitely help them win the visitors over, Overhead walkways for orangutans and gibbons would drive it home. points of difference are definitely beneficial and of course will have people visiting both sites having lions and giraffes at Melbourne zoo is fine in my eyes but copying all of their sister sites work like a certain South Australian Zoo definitely feels cheap.
