Not only is it on a Sunday, but also the zoo's 162nd anniversary. Fitting considering this zoo which has held elephants for over 140 years will soon cease holding them.
Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo News 2024
- Thread starter Zoofan15
- Start date
-
- Tags
- melbourne zoo
- Status
Elephant Documentary
It’s the documentary we’ve all been waiting for!
Coming soon is a documentary by Zoos Victoria detailing the arrival of Luk Chai; the birth of the three calves; and the herd’s move to Werribee.
There will be a paid screening on October 18 and October 19, prior to its release on YouTube.
Melbourne Zoo have created some astounding documentaries in the past, so highly excited for this masterpiece!
Trail of the Elephants is a documentary series detailing the lives of Zoos Victoria’s herd of Asian elephants and all that goes into transporting the herd to Werribee Open Range Zoo.
It’s the documentary we’ve all been waiting for!
Coming soon is a documentary by Zoos Victoria detailing the arrival of Luk Chai; the birth of the three calves; and the herd’s move to Werribee.
There will be a paid screening on October 18 and October 19, prior to its release on YouTube.
Melbourne Zoo have created some astounding documentaries in the past, so highly excited for this masterpiece!
Trail of the Elephants is a documentary series detailing the lives of Zoos Victoria’s herd of Asian elephants and all that goes into transporting the herd to Werribee Open Range Zoo.
Last edited:
Hopefully we also get a second installment following their move to Werribee! I personally will be most interested to see how they settle in to the new facilities over at Werribee.
Same here. It’s an internationally pioneering complex and they’ll be so much to cover. Of particular interest to me will be how the herd adapts to a habitat which supports the herd running their day as they would in the wild; compared to the complex at Melbourne Zoo, where the elephants days are still stimulating, but dictated by routine nonetheless.
I’m also curious to see whether the hierarchy is affected by the move. It’s a prime opportunity for Kulab to take the lead and step as matriarch as some have predicted.
New female Nepalese red panda now on display:
It was mentioned on socials today that Scarlett, the female red panda that recently arrived from Australia Zoo, is now on display. Scarlett was born 21/12/2021, so is of prime breeding age.
Scarlett’s grandmother, Bo, was born at Melbourne Zoo in 2009; her daughter Mohini, born 2016 at Auckland Zoo, is Scarlett’s mother.
It was mentioned on socials today that Scarlett, the female red panda that recently arrived from Australia Zoo, is now on display. Scarlett was born 21/12/2021, so is of prime breeding age.
Scarlett’s grandmother, Bo, was born at Melbourne Zoo in 2009; her daughter Mohini, born 2016 at Auckland Zoo, is Scarlett’s mother.
A male Noisy Pitta has been introduced to the Great Flight Aviary which is a new species for the current mix in the exhibit - confirmed via email.
Trailer for the upcoming documentary 'Trail of the Elephants' mentioned earlier in this thread that will cover the elephant transfer to Werribee. Looks excellent!
I’m really excited for this documentary. The fact it will be predominantly interviews with keepers will make it even more insightful given their in-depth knowledge; versus the more generic zoo series like Mega Zoo, which was clearly pitched a younger audience.
It will be an undeniably seismic shift for Melbourne to discontinue with a species they’ve held for 141 years; but they’re the first city zoo in the region that’s phasing out to relocate to a facility less than an hour away. I can’t wait to visit them in their new habitat.
The Sleepy Hippo
Well-Known Member
And exciting that it is a three part series!
Krookaburra
Member
Not sure if this has been discussed but there are 4 nyala on display in Arturo’s old habitat, they seem to be from Werribee. It’s probably not permanent seeing how it looks like they were planning on a pair of Brazilian tapir. (This is literally my first post here, forgive me if I get something wrong. I just thought it was strange that a new species hadn’t been mentioned at all, especially with how much focus there has been on the tapirs)
Krookaburra
Member
Unfortunately they were not very popular, at least compared to the baby ducklings across from them. Forgot to mention they were all female too.
Welcome to ZooChat! Yes it had been mentioned previously that they were coming to that exhibit and behind a screen; but good to know they’re on exhibit. You’re correct that they came from Werribee.
The peccaries are the same. The general public regard them as glorified pigs and pay little attention despite their status as the last remnants of their species in the region and a highlight for ZooChatters!
ReturnOfPaddyRick
Well-Known Member
Not all of them even regard them as pigs…
Can’t even fathom how fellow Aussies call them wombats
Some updates from the 2023-2024 inventory report for Melbourne Zoo that provides transfers, deaths and births from that reporting period.
Link: https://cdn-site.zoo.org.au/media/55ylpgyv/zv-inventory-2023-24-1.pdf
Updates below:
Link: https://cdn-site.zoo.org.au/media/55ylpgyv/zv-inventory-2023-24-1.pdf
Updates below:
- their two Carpet Sea Stars have died. The Port Jackson Sharks are down to two males with one female transfer and one death.
- their Six-spined Leatherjacket that was mixed with their Little Penguins has died. What a highlight he was during my 2018 visit.
- 878 Spotted Tree-Frog, 10 Stuttering Frog and 5 Crucifix Toad tadpoles were produced at Melbourne. A Peron’s Tree Frog was acquired.
- 19 Frilled Dragons, 43 Lined Earless Dragons, 51 Victoria Grassland Earless Dragons, six Boyd’s Forest Dragons, 11 Fijian Crested Iguanas, two Centralian Knob-tailed Geckos and a Gila Monster have hatched at Melbourne. They are down to a single Madagascar Giant Day Gecko and single Kenyan Sand Boa but all their remnant reptiles remain. Eight of the nine Cantil young survived and one of the two adult males died with the holding at 1.1.8.
- a female Broad-headed Snake and Common Death Adder were acquired. Two Inland Taipans and a Red-bellied Black Snake arrived temporarily but were quickly transferred out. Two new male Eyelash Vipers are held.
- the last Wonga Pigeon, Blue-winged Kookaburra and Red-collared Lorikeets were transferred out and the last Squatter Pigeon died. The new species include Nicobar Pigeon, Sacred Kingfisher and Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove as it has already been documented.
- a pair each of Major Mitchell’s Cockatoos and threatened Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoos have arrived at Melbourne.
- wombat holdings have been reduced with two female deaths and one female transfer, leaving three (1.2).
- two (1.1) Cottontop Tamarin, and three (1.2) Hamadryas Baboon deaths leave a troop of 15 (5.10). The giraffe calf was male.
- 23 New Holland Mice were bred at Melbourne and seven Meerkats were also born in total.
The three baboons that died were the 1.2 transferred in from Perth Zoo (Chad, Guni and Grimus).
The 5.10 remaining baboons are:
0.1 Huddo (1999) Grijs x Unknown
0.1 Macey (2004) Rameses x Beth
0.1 Qetesh (2010)
1.0 Jabari (2010) Imported 2012 (USA)
1.0 Azizi (2010) Imported 2012 (USA)
0.1 Juju (2015) Jabari x Huddo
1.0 Melako (2017) Jabari x Macey
0.1 Gana (2017) Unknown x Grace
0.1 Hudson (2018) Unknown x Huddo
1.0 Quimby (2018) Unknown x Qetesh
0.1 Makali (2019) Unknown x Macey
1.0 Quill (2019) Unknown x Qetesh
0.1 Quilton (2020) Unknown x Qetesh
0.1 Muna (2020) Unknown x Macey
0.1 Mei (2021) Unknown x Macey
Other notable deaths in the report include Kiani the orangutan; Sundah the Snow leopard; and Man Jai the Asian elephant.
Would be the former breeding pair, which would explain why their enclosure in Treetop Monkeys has sat empty for the past year or so now.
Do we know if age related or just an unfortunately rough transition?
The females, Grimus (1996) and Guni (1999) were euthanised on medical grounds (due to old age) and the male, Chad (2005) was euthanised due to being unable to integrate with Melbourne’s troop.
From my post last year (21/11/2023):
The three baboons from Perth Zoo are now all deceased. Grimus (1996) and Guni (1999) were euthanised on medical grounds (old age); while Chad (2005) was euthanised due to being unable to integrate with Melbourne’s troop. It should be noted the introduction of unrelated males is extremely difficult to achieve and it’s commendable Melbourne Zoo gave him every opportunity to do so (as opposed to only accepting the females from Perth).
Two Tawny frogmouth chicks have hatched:
https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/vict...itions/video/3c196904ca5ce26ff83d6f17222e64cd
The mother is 17 year old Cricket, who surprised staff by breeding at her advanced age. Her mate is a three year old male named Turnip, who came from Healesville.
https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/vict...itions/video/3c196904ca5ce26ff83d6f17222e64cd
The mother is 17 year old Cricket, who surprised staff by breeding at her advanced age. Her mate is a three year old male named Turnip, who came from Healesville.
- Status